


A Light in the Darkness

by Nutternut



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, JRPG - Freeform, Lots of OCs - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), PTSD, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Protective Keith (Voltron), Shapeshifting, Slight aged up, Slow Burn, Soul Weapons, Violence, eventual Klance, more tags to be added cause I'm bad at tags, space ranger buddies but in fantasy!, world bulding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-05-21 15:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 83,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14917776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutternut/pseuds/Nutternut
Summary: Monsters of darkness have been entering the world through rifts in reality. The Garrison trains able bodies to protect the world from these threats. One year ago a mission into the Kerberos forest went wrong and the crew went missing, presumed dead. Keith sets out to find the truth behind the disappearance of his brother. Along with a young girl named Katie, who seeks the same truth about her missing family, his very annoying partner Lance, and Hunk a master chef and engineer.ORMy self-indulgent fantasy AU with magic and mythical creatures. I love my JRPGs and spent way too many years in the world of Azeroth.





	1. Welcome to the Garrison

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my monster of a fic idea that will take me way too long to write. I love fantasy settings and magic plus I Iove Voltron, so I combined them. This fic takes heavy inspiration from JRPGs and World of Warcraft so if you're into that Great, if not thanks for stopping by? I know comments are scary but I'd love to hear from you. 
> 
> Lastly Thank you EveningStarGazer for pushing me to write and being just all out amazing!
> 
> Enjoy!

“Hello and welcome to the Garrison. My name is Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro. I must say how wonderful it is to see so many faces. My heart swells with pride seeing so many aspiring protectors of the realm. Today, with the help of my friend and partner, we will be telling you everything you need to know in your quest to become a great force against the forces of darkness.” A tall man with black hair lowered the paper he was reading off of and looked at the pair sitting on the bed across from him, “Selene, that's your cue.” He wore long black boots that reached just below his knees, his long grey pants tucked neatly into them. A matching grey Garrison military jacket hugged his upper body, long sleeves and a black belt completing his uniform. Three gold buttons along the right beast held the jacket closed with more gold lining the edges of his jacket and the tops of his shoulders.  
  
A woman, about the same age as the man, sat with her legs crossed.  She was leaning back on her arms that extended out behind her. She wore the same uniform except the gold was replaced with silver. “But I want to hear more about how ‘your heart swells with pride’, ” she said as she placed a hand over her heart. “Don’t you agree Keith?” She turned to the younger boy beside her. As she turned her long blonde hair swayed with her, causing giant curls to hit her cheek and bounce back into place. The boy wore the same uniform but rather than gold or silver accents his were copper.  
  
“I think I need to know more about ‘becoming a great force to stop the forces of darkness’,” the raven-haired boy said, his arm held out in front of him, bent at the elbow, fist in the air. His face was serious, eyes determined and chin extended. He only held his poise for about five seconds before the two of them burst out laughing.   
  
Shiro covered his face with his hand in annoyance and let out a hefty sigh, “You two are terrible and no help,” he leaned back, resting his back against the wall, crossing his arms, paper still in hand. He patiently waited for the hyenas to finish eyeing a piece of lint residing on his pants, “You do know this was written by the Garrison meaning I have no control over how terrible it sounds.”  
  
“We know Shiro,” the blonde pushed on her arms and hopped off the bed in one motion. Swiping her paper off the bed, she walked over to the man and stood by his side. With a wink and a grin she spoke, “it’s just too bad to not laugh at.” Raising the paper up she started to read, “Hello and welcome, I am Selene Einhart a Guardian and partner to my Knight Shiro. Here at the Garrison, we believe full heartedly in teamwork. One is only as strong as those who support them.” She paused looked at Shiro, “Wow my speech isn’t nearly as terrible as yours.”   
  
“Selene...” he scolded. Keith still sat on the bed trying to stifle a laugh from the fun police, also known as Shiro. Not that Shiro is always a stick in the mud, he only got like this when it came to business. Being the top Knight and practically the poster child for the Garrison, they asked him and Selene to start giving tours to encourage more recruits. The idea was that getting to see and talk to the top two cadets, rather than handing out pamphlets would increase sign-ups.   
  
Selene began to read again, “Based on your magic affinity, you will be divided into one of two categories: a Knight or a Guardian. Knights focus more on offense while a Guardian is tasked with supporting and protecting their Knight. Because of my skill with nature magic, I was selected to be a Guardian, but don't be deceived, this rose has her own thorns….” She trailed off and paused, “I spoke too soon my script is just as bad as yours.” Shiro offered her a grin as if to say ‘now you know how I feel’. She continued reading, “Take out soul weapon….. OH! I’m supposed to take out my soul weapon not actually say to take it out.” Her confusion caused Keith to resume laughing. “Oh hush you!”  
  
“Not fun when he’s laughing at you now is it,” Shiro teased, nudging her with his elbow. “So Keith,” he redirected his attention, “do you know who’s in the running for your Guardian partner?”   
  
Keith stopped his laughter and groaned, “Do we really need to talk about this? Why not finish your awful speeches?  You start tours next week right?” Keith was the top Knight in his class by a long way, his top strengths being his agility and maneuverability. He could dodge an attack easily and quickly counter, giving him the edge in any fight. Unfortunately for him, he was horrible at dodging questions.   
  
Shiro knew Keith long enough to know when he’d rather not talk about a certain subject, but he also learned long ago that payback is a bitch. “Come on Keith,” he pushed, “I know you’ve been keeping an eye on the other class. Which lucky girl or guy gets to be paired with the great Keith Kogane?” he spoke with a wicked grin.  
  
Keith’s expression was one of annoyance, “Guy... and he’s loud and annoying, and constantly trying to get me to do dumb things with him. And he’s always challenging me to stupid competitions that I usually win, so I don't know why he keeps trying---”  
  
“Is he cute?” Selene interrupted Keith’s rant, causing both males to look at her.  
  
“What?” the question threw Keith for a loop.  
  
“I asked, is he cute?” She repeated.  
  
“No! ...maybe...I guess, he’s not bad looking,” Keith trailed off.  
  
“So what I’m hearing is the guy you’re probably going to be paired up within three months time is a cute boy that wants to be your friend. Shit, Keith, I wish I had your problems,” Selene drawled.  Shiro laughed at the bluntness of his partner. She tended to speak her mind and was very straightforward, much like Keith. It’s no wonder the two of them get along so well. In the four years, Shiro had known Keith, she is one of only two people the boy had been able to open up and be honest with, Shiro being the other. Even Shiro’s parents, who took Keith in, had never been able to get past the walls he puts up.  
  
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be friends with an idiot!” it wasn’t much of an answer, but it was all Keith could come up with. He brought his dangling legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, proceeding to hide his face in them. The young boy never felt comfortable around people, and the thought of being paired with some loud, in your face moron was a bit terrifying.   
  
The older pair knew when to stop pushing out of fear the younger would close himself off.  “I guess I should finish this dumb script huh? Now, where was I?” Selene said, successfully diverting attention back to their original task.   
  
“At the part where you show your thorns,” Shiro grinned, causing her to glare back.   
  
“Hold this,” she smacked the paper she was reading against Shiro’s chest. “I just want to remind you: I can and have kicked your ass,” Selene was only a couple inches shorter than her partner and her muscles might not have been as noticeable as his, but they were still there.  
  
He grabbed the paper before it could fall to the ground, “That was one time”. She took a step to the side, moving her left hand to hover over her right, a green glowing arcane rune appeared on her right hand. “Selene, you don’t actually need to summon your soul weapon!” Shiro’s words coming too late, two green glowing circles surrounded the rune spinning in opposite directions. Her left hand fell onto her right and when she lifted it back up again she was gripping a green wooden handle. As she continued to pull, more of the handle was pulled from the rune until the weapon was fully formed.   
  
Selene slung the 2-handed great ax over her shoulder like it was nothing, reaching out her other hand and flailing it around towards Shiro, “What's next on my paper?!” She continued to hold her hand out expectantly, hoping he’d take the hint and give it back.  
  
Shiro’s arms were crossed, paper in each hand, “Was that really necessary?” He tilted his head at her.  
  
“I was only doing what the paper told me to do,” she defended, a smile curling at her lips. A similar smile spread across Shiro’s face as they peered towards the ball on the bed. Keith still had his arms wrapped around his legs, but the grip wasn’t as tight. The playful banter relaxed him some. Before he could take another breath, there was a loud knock on the door. All eyes were redirected to the noise. Shiro swiftly crossed the room to the door, opening it to reveal a Garrison cadet he didn’t recognize.   
  
The cadet gave a salute before thrusting a document forward, “Knight Shirogane, an urgent mission has come in. All the information is in this document. You and your partner will report for dispatch tomorrow at the given time.” As soon as Shiro took the file the cadet turned and left. Shiro closed the door and turned to his friends.  Without looking up, he opened the file.  
  
“Well, what does it say?” Selene asked.  
  
“Operation Kerberos.”  
  
~~~~~1 YEAR LATER~~~~~  
  
BEEP BEEP BEEP  
  
A mop of black hair was the only thing visible from the covers. It shifted a bit until an arm emerged and desperately searched for the source of the noise, slapping all over the small dresser until it felt something solid and smacked it hard, causing the noise to stop. The boy let out a groan and slowly pushed himself to an upright position. Giving a yawn, he stretched and ran his fingers through his hair. Now that the alarm was dealt with, the room was in complete silence. He looked across the room to the empty bed and gave a sigh. As much as he enjoyed the silence, the past few years had taught him to enjoy some noise. Until that noise, much like most thing in his life, was taken from him a year ago.  
  
Keith haphazardly threw off the sheets and dragged himself to the trunk at the foot of his bed. Opening it, he grabbed a towel and made for the bathroom door. His hand hovered over the doorknob as he looked back to his bed, the sheets thrown everywhere. “Now Keith tidying your bed each morning can lead to a string of positive practices through the day,” a voice echoed in his mind. He walked back to the mattress, flattening out the sheets and tucking where needed. Again he turned to the empty bed and let out a sigh.   
  
The second trip to the bathroom was more successful as he made it inside this time. Another young boy turned his attention from the mirror to the new occupant. One hand on the toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, the boy waved to Keith with his other. Keith’s only response was a slight nod of his head. It was just a formality.  They never spoke more than the obligatory, “Hi, how are you?” Connecting with people was not Keith’s strong suit and most people misinterpreted that as not being interested, so in turn, they weren’t interested.   
  
By the time he finished his shower, the bathroom was empty. He made his way back to his room, kneeling at his trunk again and taking out his uniform. He still smiled to see the gold lining, symbolizing he was no longer cadet but a full-fledged Knight. He dressed, knowing it was going to be a long day and he had a stop he needed to make before classes.  
  
The halls of the dormitory were relatively quiet, with only a few students out and about. He quickly made for the stairs, descending to the first floor. Upon opening the doors from the stairwell, he was bombarded with noise and conversations. Bodies were everywhere, leaning against walls or standing in the middle of the hall because obviously, that was the best place to have a conversation, and it was your responsibility to walk around them. ‘Jackasses,’ Keith thought, as he weaved in and around the busy traffic. Along the left walls were doors leading to classrooms and the right wall was filled with windows so you could see the great courtyard that lay in the heart of the garrison.  Just a few more steps and he would be at the entrance to said courtyard.   
  
But, nothing in life is ever that simple, especially for Keith Kogane. Before his foot could make contact with the stone path, he felt a weight on his shoulders. A familiar, arm like weight that he has had to deal with on a semi-daily basis for the past eight months. “Keith, ol’ buddy, ol’ pal. How is my dear partner of mine?” You could almost hear the grin in his voice.  
  
Keith was not in the mood for this. “Busy,” He said, hoping maybe a one-word answer would give the other boy a hint.  
  
“Cool, Cool, so I was thinking after classes today my buddy Hunk and I were--”  
  
‘Apparently not’, Keith thought. “I said I’m busy,” and with that, Keith knocked the arm off his shoulder and proceeded into the courtyard, neither making eye contact nor looking back.   
  
“Do you always have to be such an ass?” the light-hearted, friendly voice was gone and replaced with scorn. Even though all the noise Keith could make out the angry footsteps heading away from him.  
  
Keith closed his eyes, exhaling but continuing his journey. The courtyard was beautiful, carved stone paths ran the length, connecting one side of the garrison to the other. Benches lay along the paths as well as near the small lake off to the side, complete with a small array of exotic and local fish. There was no ceiling, so local birds would occasionally visit, stopping at the scattered bird feeders. There were students sitting on the grass conversing as they ate their breakfast.   
  
Keith’s destination, however, was in the back, a large onyx slate surrounded with grass and flowers. It was only a couple of feet taller than him but about three times as wide. At the top, the words were engraved ‘We Remember Those Whose Lives Were Lost’. The stone was about a fifth filled with names. Keith’s eyes searched near the end of the writing until he spotted KERBEROS. His eyes made their way down to the third name ‘Selene Einhart’ then continued to the seventh name ‘Takashi Shirogane’.   
  
‘It still doesn’t seem real, it doesn’t feel real, it can’t be,’ Keith thought. Every time he visited the memorial, he felt the same. Even a year later, it felt wrong, like it was a lie. Any moment he felt like he would hear voices cheering at the return of the Kerberos crew, or feel a strong hand on his shoulder and hear that reassuring voice in his ear. But nothing changed, only the tightening grip in his chest and the urge to scream and destroy something.  
  
Before he can think further, his thoughts were interrupted by voices nearby. “I said that's enough, Ms. Holt!” ‘Holt?’ Keith thought, ‘Wasn’t that the names of the scientists that were on that mission’. Keith’s eyes turn to meet the owner of the voice, Iverson, but couldn’t register who the girl next to him was. She was small, young, fifteen maybe, wearing a light lilac dress. Her long brown hair was only held back by a headband and her face was filled with fury and anger.  
  
“It won’t be enough until you tell me what really happened to my brother and father!” Her voice was loud enough that more heads were starting to stare.  
  
Iverson was losing his patience but was trying to regain his composure, “I told you a year ago and I’ll tell you the same thing again: Samuel and Matthew Holt’s lives were taken by voidings on their mission to investigate and close the void rift in the Kerberos forest.” Before the girl could open her mouth to make a retort, she was cut short, “I am truly sorry for your loss, and out of respect for your father, I will not deny you access to the garrison. However, if you bring this up again I will have you personally escorted off this property and only allow your visits with supervision. Now, I have other things to attend too. Good day, Ms. Holt.” Iverson turned and walked away, leaving the girl with only her anger, clenched fists, and a tear traveling down her face.  
  
Now that the drama was over, any heads that may have been watching began to go about their business as if nothing happened. ‘If she believed her family is still alive could that mean the others were alive too?’ Keith’s legs started to move on their own, slowly approached the girl. Her eyes were shut and her body was shaking.   
  
“Why don’t you believe Iverson?” he asked.  
  
Startled, the girl quickly wiped her face before her brown eyes met with Keith’s violet. “Because his story doesn’t add up,” she said, her voice a little horse.  She cleared her throat before continuing, “The garrison has only even sent B teams to these Rifts and suddenly this one gains the attention of the top eight Garrison Cadets, head scientist, and his protege son? Not to mention the search party was assembled almost instantly and dispatched within twenty-four hours of the missions start. It was like they knew something was wrong. Do I even need to bring up how they didn’t bring back a single body?” She eyed him up and down, seeing the gold on his uniform “As a knight, have you ever come across a shadow fiend or voidling that steals or even eats human bodies?”  
  
“No…” Keith responded warily.   
  
“Then where are they?” the anger was starting to show again in her voice.  
  
Keith could only stare at her as he absorbed and processed what she was saying. It wasn’t uncommon for the Garrison to hide, or even omit, information with regards to these kinds of missions. But could they still be alive? Could Shiro still be alive? There was a spark stirring deep within him, igniting an unquenchable flame. Keith’s eyes shone with deep determination, he was going to find the truth, and that would lead him to his lost brother and the rest of the crew. “Let go find out,” he stated.  
  
The girl let out a gasp, startled at his response, “What?” She merely whispered. No one ever took the time to listen to her and no one had ever agreed with her wild ideas, much less offered to help.  
  
“You’re not the only one who lost someone on that mission,” Keith turned to start to walk away. “Are you coming?” he called over his shoulder.  
  
“Wha…..? Yeah, wait up!” She ran to catch up to him, falling in pace next to him. They didn’t speak again as they walked through the garrison. The halls were less crowded as most of the students were in class. They kept pace, heading towards the exit.  Two guards at the door simply looked at Keith and nodded, allowing him to leave without even questioning him. Once outside, they followed the road for a few minutes before they were on the outskirts of the town of Arus.   
  
Once again, the guards at the gate nodded, not giving them a hard time about entering, as the Garrison uniform was a common sight. Brick houses ran along the main road as it leads them further into the center of town. Soon the houses turned into stores, and stores into small stalls. The center of town opened to a giant circle with the stalls lining the outskirts and in the center lay a beautiful fountain. The floor of it was lined with coins and from the center rose the statue of a Griffon, a great lion with enormous wings.  It stood on its hind legs, head facing the heavens, letting off a great roar as water poured forth. Keith remembers that first month after the incident being at such a loss he added a week's worth of pay to the fountain. It was not one of his prouder moments.  
  
They continued on, ignoring the calls from the merchants.  
  
“Hey young man, why not buy your pretty lady friend and nice new hair clip!”  
  
“Freshly baked rolls! Get them fresh and hot!”  
  
“Come taste the best Apples in all of Arus!”  
  
It wasn’t until they passed another town gate and stopped in front of a grand forest that the girl finally broke the silence, “Hey, Knight,” the older boy turned to her. “You never told me your name,” she explained. “You just turned heel and beelined to this forest. How good of a knight are you?” She narrowed her eyes at him, “I don’t want to be eaten by a wild animal or shadow fiend before I can find any answers.”  
  
“It’s Keith. And I am the top knight in my class. Just stay close and don’t wander off.” He said, eyes still focused on the forest before them.   
  
“Keith huh, my name is Katie,” she held out her hand. “This might not be idea meeting conditions but nice to meet you.”  
  
Keith eyed the outstretched hand, shifting his view to Katie’s face. She looked a lot calmer than she had at the garrison, her lips were even the slightest bit curled up. He took her hand, shaking it firmly, “Nice to meet you too Katie.”  
  
Their hands were still gripped when Katie asked, “Who did you lose?” Her head tilted to the side in question.  
  
“His name was--” Keith shook his head rephrasing his statement, “is Shiro. He is like a brother to me.”  
  
For the first time, Katie looked relaxed.  her face softened and she allowed a smile to show. Nodding, she spoke again, “Then let’s go find our brothers.”  
  



	2. Into the Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do the best I can to post a chapter every Tuesday or Wednesday.
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @ [Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Lastly thank you to my darling EveningStarGazer for all your help.

It was midday and the pair hadn’t spoken a word since entering the forest. They both had the mission details committed memory, knowing where they were going without having to ask the other. “Keith, wait a second,” Katie’s head slumped forward eyeing the ground. One arm wrapped around her stomach and she placed the other against a tree for support.  
  
“You can’t be tired yet. We still have another hour to go,” Keith turned to her, annoyance thick in his voice as he eyed the path ahead.   
  
“Not tired, hungry. It’s lunchtime and I never ate breakfast,” she looked up at him with a smile. “You don’t happen to have any food on you do you?”   
  
Keith started patting his pockets, looking at his person before meeting her eyes again with a frown, “Sorry no, I wasn’t exactly planning to be out here today.”   
  
“Damn. Okay, let just take a break and collect some fruit or nuts,” Katie stood up straight, resting her forehead on the nearest tree. Keith cocked his head in confusion but before he could ask she began walking off the path, calling to him, “This way.” She began walking, assuming Keith would follow. He wasn’t happy about the break but followed her anyway, wary of being separated. Every few minutes, Katie would graze her fingers over a nearby tree, sometimes changing direction slightly. Their hunt ended after twenty minutes at a large plum tree, its lowest branch a good five feet above Keith’s head.  
  
He let out a sigh as he walked towards the tree, “Give me a second and I’ll get you some.” He placed one foot on the tree while looking for a good place to grip with his hands.  
  
“No need, I got this,” Katie spoke with assurance, strolling up to the tree next to Keith and placing her hand on the bark. She closed her eyes and under her hand, there was a green glow. Keith backed away from the tree and watched curiously. A noise that could only be described as a loud creek was heard from above. The boy watched as the same branch he was eyeing started to bend and move towards them. It stopped just in front of his face. “Thank you,” Katie whispered into the tree, removing her hand with a proud grin. She picked a plum with each hand, biting into one an offering the other to Keith.  
  
He all to quickly took the fruit, “Thanks.” Most mornings Keith would grab a granola bar and whatever fruit they had that day from the Garrison Cafeteria in the mornings. It was a simple breakfast that got him through the day until lunch. Today wasn’t one of those days, and he was secretly happy Katie suggested food. “Nature affinity?” he asked her.  
  
“Mmmmhmmm,” she nodded mouth still full of plum. After swallowing, she asked, “What about you?”  
  
Keith was eyeing the plum in his hand when he answered, “Fire.” He took a big bite out of the fruit, juices dripping down his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise, trying to wipe them away with his other hand.  
  
Katie’s eyes narrowed looking at him, “Please don’t burn this forest down.”  
  
A small chuckle escaped from Keith’s mouth as he finished chewing. “Only if it helps us find our families,” he said as he took another bite.  
  
“Hmmmmm….” she thought, “I guess we can plant more trees.”  
  
They both laughed, picking another few fruits each. The next few minutes were filled only with the sounds of chewing and birds chirping. It had been so long since Keith enjoyed talking with another person. Katie knew what he was going through and she didn't seem to mind his silence; she seemed just as silent and reserved as he was. Who knows, he thought, maybe after we find Shiro and her family, I will still keep in contact with Katie and try that whole ‘Friend’ thing Shiro always nagged me about. That would be something ‘Hey Shiro I’m here to bring you home with this friend I made while you were gone’. The thought brought a smirk to his face.  
  
Once they had their fill, Keith picked a few more plums and put them in his pockets for later. Katie didn’t have this luxury as her dress, like most, did not come with pockets. They started back the way they came when Katie stopped and turned to the plum tree, thanking it once more. They watched as the branch moved back into place like it was never disturbed.  
  
Again, the young girl grazed her fingers over the trees leading them back to where they were before hunger took over. “I don’t know much about Nature magic,” Keith admitted. “None of the knights I trained with were nature affinity. Nature magi are mostly support, so they train to be Guardians. Shiro’s Guardian was a Nature mage, but I didn't see her use her magic much.”  
  
“As the name implies, we are nature-based,” she began. “My magic allows me to commune with nature. Plants and trees are just as alive as a human or animal and can communicate with each other just as easily. We can’t exactly talk to nature the same way we talk to each other. Before, I asked the tree the location of any flowering tree nearby. Since most plant roots are connected through a fungus known as mycelium, my request traveled along the path of connecting mycelium, to plant root, to mycelium, to plant root, until I found what I was looking for. Now I’m asking the trees to lead us back to where we were before we made this detour. It’s really handy to be able to ask if a berry or plant is poisonous,” she grinned. “This one time, I was out in the forest collecting samples and Matt was so hungry he forgot to check if a berry was okay to eat before popping it in his mouth. He was sick for a full week!” She laughed and allowed herself a moment of happiness to remember the past before reality settled back in.  
  
She continued to explain as they walked, “Most Nature Magi can also use the life force of the plants to channel and redirect it. If you were hurt I could take a bit of energy from all the surrounding plants and heal you. It wouldn’t be a noticeable about of energy, but added together it would have a big impact, but I’m not very good at that. I haven’t been trained like you were at the Garrison, and I tend to focus most of my time on other things. What about you, Fire Mage?”  
  
“I can create fire and control it,” Keith said flatly.  After a long moment of silence, Katie realized that was all the explanation she was going to get without some prodding.  
  
“You are a walking source of information,” she snarked. “Can you give me a bit more than that?” she said, her eyebrow raised in question.  
  
“Oh sorry. We aren’t as dependant on our environment as you. Our magic comes from inside ourselves as if there is this constant flame in my gut that I can control to my will.” Keith held out his hand in front of him, palm up, “If I just give it a push…” A small fire appeared in his palm, dancing with the wind, “depending on how much I push or pull it, I can adjust its size and amount of heat it produces.” The flame grew a little larger as a demonstration before it shrank down, extinguishing itself. Keith closed his hand and turned it over letting his arm fall back to his side.  
  
They fell back into silence as they continued taking in the sounds of wild animals and insects picking their way through the dense forest. The sun was high enough that the larger trees cast shadows, darkening some areas, while light shone brightly through other patches. Soon enough, the pair was back on track and following the path the Kerberos team took one year ago. Eyes explored their surroundings, hoping for some kind of clue that could point them in the right direction, but they were coming up empty.  
  
Their silence was broken by Katie, taking a giant breath and holding it. On instinct Keith immediately took an offensive stance next to her, eyes scanning for whatever threat she saw. “Keith…” she spoke through held breath, arm outstretch and pointing. His eyes followed to the offender, about twenty feet away were five floating glowing balls of green light. Not bigger than the plums they just ate, “Forest Spirits!” she yelped. “I’ve never seen them in person before! Just in books and photos!” Katie was bouncing with excitement. A sigh of relief escaped Keith as he relaxed his muscles, knowing there was no danger. “We must be really far in the forest for us to find spirits. That means we’re close! Come on!” Katie waved for Keith to follow as she picked up the pace and started running, the older boy following suit.   
  
The trees passed on either side as they made their way deeper and deeper. The occasional root or rock causing them to trip and once, Katie almost fell if not for Keith’s quick reflexes catching her. “Careful,” he warned.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, I can be careful after I find my family!”  Before Katie could run further, Keith grabbed her arm. “What's up?” She eyed him cautiously.   
  
“We’re almost there. Let me go first in case there is something waiting for us.” Katie nodded in agreement and watched as he raised his right arm in front of his chest. The back side of his hand was glowing under his glove, a shape of an arcane rune Katie didn’t recognize becoming visible. Keith’s other hand covered the first, then he thrust his hands apart pulling a glowing sword from the rune. As soon as it fully materialized, the light from his hand was gone and Keith was already in a battle stance, sword in hand. “Alright, I’m re---” Keith’s vision was redirected to the girl.  
  
Her hands were interlocked and brought to her chest, mouth gaping wide, and eyes sparkled with excitement at what she just witnessed. “BY THE GREAT SPIRITS IS THAT A SOUL WEAPON!!!” It was pretty safe to assume she woke any and all sleeping entities in the entirety of the forest. Keith barely had time to react before she lunged grabbing his hand and shoving her face as close to the weapon as possible without hurting herself. “I’ve never seen one before! Matt and Dad were researchers so they didn’t have a use for weapons. Maybe a soul pen and paper, but that isn’t really a thing, huh? You have to tell me how this works! Can I touch it or will it disappear? What does that rune on your hand mean? Keith, I gotta know!” Her face was only inches from his, glowing with excitement. He was taken aback by the sudden burst of energy and bombardment of questions.  
  
“Ahh...um..” The poor boy was still trying to recover, “Yeah…..it’s a soul weapon, all cadets are granted it when they graduate second year. Mine is a sword, that's what the rune means...I think.  It’s another language so the translation might be off. But now might not be the best time to discuss this.”   
  
The excitement in Katie’s eyes began to lessen and a small pout was showing, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But once we get out of here I want you to tell me everything okay!”  
  
“Okay,” Keith still thought of himself as the opposite of a people person, but he was beginning to enjoy Katie’s company in a weird way. He was actually looked forward to that conversation, “Let get going.”   
  
Their walk only lasted another ten minutes before they stopped. This was the spot, the destination of the Kerberos mission and the last known location of the Holts, Shiro, Selene, and the rest of the team. Eyeing each other and taking a deep breath, they continued forward.  
  
The forest opened to a large clearing but otherwise appeared no different than the rest of the forest. There were trees, grass, bushes, a couple of birds happily chirping, and even a bunny hopping into a bush to escape from the humans. It was stupid to think that their lost loved ones would just be hanging out here for a year, but it still hurt to see nothing. The two were so hyped from finding each other and sharing their hurt that the reality of the situation eluded them.   
  
“This is the location.” Katie voiced out loud if only to reassure herself. Both had read the mission details from their respective brother over and over, committing it to memory before the mission. And again once the official mission failure statement was released. They both knew this was the spot, so why did it feel so wrong? They separated and began exploring the clearing. Hoping they would find something the search party missed, that one missing piece of the puzzle.   
  
To their disappointment, hey found nothing, just more of the same forest. After a few minutes of frantic searching and inspecting the area Keith spoke, “This can’t be happening….” He was running his sword-free hand through his hair and gripping it tightly. “There has to be something here! Can’t you ask the trees or something?!” He was yelling now.  The hostility showed in his voice and body language.  
  
“That isn’t how it works!” she yelled back. “Maybe….” she was looking around frantically. “I don’t….I...I..” As soon as she laid eyes on the furious boy across the clearing she felt her resolve begin to crumble. Her legs gave way, she fell to her knees and sobbed. “No,” tears were pooling in her eyes, slowly streaming down her face. “I’m so stupid, why did I think I could find them when no one else could. Why did I think it would be this easy?”  
  
The anger swelling within the boy was instantly pushed aside when he saw the girl in front of him break down. He knew he shouldn't have yelled and taken his frustrations out on her. She's lost more than me he silently reminded himself. A father and a brother who were in her life since the moment she was born. Shiro only found me five years ago.  
  
Like people, emotions were something Keith needed to work on. He loosened his grip on the sword. Instead of falling to the ground, it broke into millions of small bright particles before completely disappearing into the air. Slowly walking over to the sobbing mess of the girl he had shared the last several hours with, he knelt down, hesitating but eventually placing a stiff hand on her back. Attempting to give her a reassuring pat, or should he rub circles? That's soothing right? So there he was, subconsciously alternating between awkward back rubs and awkward neck pats. The sobs stopped and were replaced with a small broken voice, “What are you doing?”  
  
“Oh… Ummm...comforting you?” it sounded more like a question than a statement.   
  
“Is that what you’re calling it?” she looked up at him with a small smile.   
  
“Shut up,” he mumbled, “I’ve never done this before,” not wanting to make eye contact he looked away, hand still on her back.   
  
“Obliviously,” she giggled. “Hey do you think I could um…. get a…. ummmm….a hug?” her voice was just above a whisper. When Keith looked back to face her again he saw shy eyes looking up at him.   
  
“Oh….sure..” he slowly wrapped his arms around the girl and brought her in for historically the worst hug anyone has ever had the displeasure of receiving. His motions were slow and unsure, body stiff and breathing erratic, still not knowing what to do with his hands, he may have caught her long hair with his hand at one point. But as terrible as the hug may have been, Katie leaned in to press her face to his chest, wrapping her arms around his body.   
  
They stayed like that for a bit until Keith noticed the shaking body he held, emitting a muffled sound into his chest. Is she crying again? Did I make it worse? Before he could think about it further, he felt her shift her head off his chest, making it much easier to hear her. Is that laughter? He thought, Is she laughing?   
  
“Keith…” Katie looked up, violet eyes meeting her watery brown eyes. “Holy shit, how are you such a bad hugger?” She wiped the fresh tears away, Keith had no idea if they were from crying or laughing, but she had a grin and seemed to be doing much better.  
  
He shrugged not offended by her comment, “Not a lot of experience I guess.”  
  
“That's really sad,” she spoke with sincerity. He only responded with another shrug. The girl pulled away, sitting on her knees in front of him. She straightened out her dress and brushing off any dirt and grass that made its way onto it. “Sorry about that. I promise I’m not normally this emotional. Just meeting you, you gave me hope again and I lost track of reality. But I’m better now, so let's see if we can figure this out,” she said, clearly beginning to gain back her composure.  
  
Keith stretched his arms behind him, leaning back on them. He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays on his face. “This is the location they were supposed to be investigating according to the mission details, but there is no sign of a battle or void corruption,” he went over the facts in his head. “Could a talented Nature mage heal the area to make it look like nothing happened?”  
  
“Short answer, no. Nature healing magic is an equivalent exchange. To heal one tree you need to take the same energy from another living creature, in this case, another tree or trees. If there was a battle like we suspect and all the nature was healed then the neighboring trees would look damaged and disheveled, which they don’t. It’s basically a giant boost to your natural recovery system. It can’t regenerate lost limbs and if you were to receive a deep cut it would still scar. None of these trees are missing branches or have damage to their bark.”  
  
“Okay fine so no tree, bush, or blade of grass was damaged when the team disappeared. That's highly unlikely, but let's go with it,” Keith continued. “There is also no evidence of corruption,” tilting his head slightly to look at her, “Could your father or brother have found a way to cleanse it completely?”  
  
“I know they are geniuses, but no one has found a way to permanently remove or cleanse it. The Void, it’s corruption, the voidlings, this is all so new to us. They only started to show up this century. All we know is these void rifts are actually tears in our reality to another plane we named the Void. From these openings, corruption pours out, infecting anything it touches. We know how to close the tears, stopping the spread, but there is nothing we can do about what’s already entered our world,” she said as if reciting from a textbook.   
  
“Thanks for the lesson, but I knew that already. I also know about how once an area is corrupted it’s marked as a dead zone, quarantined and cut off from the world. So I guess that means the Garrison lied to us about this being the spot.”   
  
“Quarantined?” she repeated quietly.  
  
“Yeah it means ---” Keith tried to explain but Katie stood and started pacing. One hand stroking her chin the other hand resting on her hip.   
  
“Quarantined…...quarantined…..quaran….” She abruptly stopped, her eyes shooting open, she gasped, taking a large breath of air. Her body jerked back to face Keith, staring him dead in the eyes as she spoke, “I know how we can find the real location of the Kerberos mission.” 


	3. Corruption

“I know how we can find the real location of the Kerberos mission,” Keith wondered if he had heard her right.  
  
“Wha…..” was the only thing Keith was able to muster in response. Her words echoed through his head over and over; Still not fulling grasping what was said, what it meant.   
  
“The corruption isn’t just a quarantine zone for humans, it works the same for nature!” she exclaimed talking with her hands. “We don’t want to go near it because it’s dangerous and will kill us, right?! So then why would any living plant or tree go near it either? They wouldn’t!” her arms flew into the air. “They will sever all ties with those infected so as not to become infected themselves!”  
  
“So how does that help us?” Keith lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head, not quite following the younger’s train of thought.  
  
“The same way I was able to find fruit before! I can use the forest’s root network to look for more fruit and eventually I’ll find a gap in the connection, so to speak. That's where the corruption is!” Katie couldn’t contain her excitement at her own revelation; her grin extended ear to ear, hands shaking in anticipation and she couldn’t stand still for longer than five seconds.  
  
“What if there is no fruit to find in that section? Or you think you find a gap but you just found a section with a lack of fruit trees?” Keith wanted it to be as simple as Katie made it seem, but he didn’t want to get his hopes crushed a second time in the same half hour. If life had taught him anything it was that nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. He crossed his arms and readjusted to sit cross-legged.  
  
“So I look for something more general,” Katie said. She tapped her foot against the ground as she thought, "like a tree!”  
  
“A tree?” He mimicked her. He turned his head to look over one shoulder, scanning all the trees as his head worked its way one hundred and eighty degrees until he reached his other shoulder. “You might want to be a bit more specific. Remember, this IS a forest.”  
  
“Yes, jackass.  I know this is a forest!” she yelled. “I can’t look for anything more specific, there is no guarantee it will be in the corrupted area.” She stomped over to a tree, placing her palm on its trunk, slowly closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against the tree.  
  
‘Looks like she was determined to do this’ he thought, sighing as he waited, “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.  
  
She stubbornly didn’t look at him, “You could be a little more supportive.” The hostility was still there.  
  
“Sorry. Err...I’m sure you can do it?” Keith’s motivational skills were just a rank above his skill at hugs. “Not to be unsupportive, but how long will this take? This isn’t a small forest.”  
  
“If I’m lucky a few minutes if I’m unlucky a couple of months. If I’m really unlucky…...never,” she said, still not looking at him.  
  
“You can eliminate the path we took to get here and to that plum tree. A lot of merchants come here for herbs and hunting so you can eliminate anything too close to the entrance from Arus. If it was near there it would have been reported. Probably about 5 miles to start.” Keith continued to wrack his brain for anything else that could help narrow the search, “A couple of months back I remember the Garrison dispatching a group somewhere in the southeast to investigate the influx of deer. If the corruption was there I’m sure word would have gotten around.”  
  
Katie’s forehead still rested on the tree, but she turned her head to face Keith and smiled, “Thanks Keith, I’ll check these locations last.” He returned her smile and left her to work.   
  
The silence continued for an hour, only broken by Katie’s grunt as she took a minute to stretch her limbs, then flopped to the ground to continue her work from a more comfortable position. Keith, on the other hand, didn’t move from his cross-legged position on the ground. It was only after another hour or so when the sun began to set and the crisp air start to settle, did he finally stand and unbuckled his belt. The noise broke the Nature Magi’s trance and she gave him a confused look as he approached her. She noticed the dagger sheathed to the backside of his belt as he removed it and placed it on the ground just a few feet from her. Brown eyes watched him unbutton his jacket and remove it from his body, leaving him in a simple black t-shirt. Maybe she watched too many horror programs with Matt before the move to Arus, or she was still hearing her mother’s constant worrying voice in her head. Whatever it was made her reach her free hand behind her leg, lifting her dress slightly. Once Keith’s jacket was off his body and he held it out, offering it out to her, “Huh?” She paused, the offering taking her off guard.  
  
“The sun is setting, it’s going to be getting cold soon,” Keith said, arm still outstretched, waiting for her to take the offered jacket.   
  
He looked at her arm behind her back, dress slightly lifted. Lifting an eyebrow, he continued, “What are you doing?”  
  
“Huh? Oh…” She let her arms fall beside her as she released the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I have a weapon strapped to my thigh,” Katie spoke honestly, feeling Keith should know the truth.  
  
It took Keith a moment to piece the puzzle together, “Wait what did you think I was going to do?!” he shouted, taking a step back, eyes blown open and mouth agape.  
  
“I don’t know you were acting all weird!” She threw her hands in the air, “What was I supposed to think? I’m a young girl, in the middle of nowhere, with some guy I just met! Excuse me for being cautious.” She glared at him, snatching his jacket from his hand.  
  
‘You’re supposed to think, ‘it’s cold and I’m being offered a jacket’,” he said, crossing his arms in annoyance, brows furrowed and mouth pulled down slightly. “Don’t you think we are well past stranger danger by this point?”   
  
Katie held his jacket in her hands, feeling terrible about misreading the situation so badly, “You are right. I have an overactive imagination sometimes.” She met his eyes as she spoke, “Sorry.”  
  
He relaxed his body, letting his arms rest at his sides, “It’s fine. And don’t worry, I don’t have any interested in you.” He responded not realizing how harsh his words sounded, redirecting his attention to his discarded belt on the ground. Kneeling down, he picked it up and wrap it around his waist.  
  
The girl slipped on his oversized jacket, before voicing her annoyed opinion, “Hey! I’ll have you know I’m a real catch! I am very mature for my age, highly intelligent and pretty! ” Her arms immediately crossed as soon as they emerged from the sleeves.  
  
Keith chuckled reaching into his pants pockets, “Don’t sell yourself short, you forgot feisty and mettlesome,” he grinned, pulling his hands from his pockets holding two plums in each, “You going to snatch these too?”  
  
She sported a devilish grin before saying, “Yes,” and quickly grabbed the two plums. The boy snorted, which made her giggle. “Sorry for being rude to you,” she continued.  He gave her a simple nod before biting into one of his own plums. “And thank you. Thank you for the plums, for your jacket, for coming out here with me and dealing with my shitty attitude.” She turned the plums over in her hands as she spoke, not looking at him. “You know how my brother and father are brilliant scientists, right? Well, I inherited that gift too, I may not look like it, but I’m just as smart as they were when they were my age. We moved a couple years ago when Dad got the job at the Garrison. It’s hard to make friends when you’re new and known as the nerd at school. I prefer books to people, you know? Sorry, I’ve been so difficult,” she pried her eyes away from the plums to gauge his reaction.   
  
His face was soft.  He swallowed down a bit of plum before speaking. “I get it, people aren’t really my thing either. I’m sorry if I haven't been the easiest of people to interact with,” he said, taking another bite of plum.  
  
She shook her head, “Nah, all things considered, you’ve been pretty easy going.”  
  
“You should probably eat,” He held up a finger to point at her uneaten food, now finished his first plum and moving on to a second.  
  
“Oh yeah. Thanks again,” she smiled and started to eat. Soon enough they were both finished eating.  
  
Keith spoke up, “Do you want to stay out here for the night or head back and start again in the morning? If we leave now we should be able to get by just after midnight.”  
  
“I’d like to stay here for the night if that's okay with you?” she seemed a little sheepish asking.   
  
“That's fine, once it gets colder, I’ll make a fire. We can look for more fruit in the morning.”   
  
“Oh, let me know if you get cold.  I’ll give you back your jacket.”  
  
“No need. I can raise my body temperature with my magic. Perks of being a fire mage,” he gave her a grin which she returned with a smile. Turning back to the tree she continued her work, navigating through the network of trees.  
  
Katie continued working until the sun was fully set and the moon glowed. It was a few days short of being a full moon, but enough was showing to illuminate the clearing. A cold wind swept through, causing them both to shiver. “I guess that's my queue to start a fire,” Keith said, standing walking around to collect dead leaves and branches. He dropped his armful of tinder by Katie and worked on a second trip. A deep howl echoed through the woods, causing them both to jerk their heads in the direction of the sound.  
  
“That isn’t close, right?” a little panic escaped through Katie’s voice, as she turned to face Keith. His focus was still in the direction of the noise.  
  
“No…..” he said,  distracted and unsure.  
  
“Keith?” Katie said, growing more uncomfortable.  
  
His eyes still fixated in the direction of the sound, he turned his head towards her. Once she was right in front of his turned head, his eyes snapped to her, “Did something seem off about that howl?”  
  
“I don’t normally hear wolves so I’m not sure. Why what’s wrong?” She asked nervously.  
  
Keith walked back to Katie and the tinder pile, dropping what was in his arms and staying protectively close to the girl. “I don’t know.  The howl just seemed….off?”   
  
Katie picked herself off the ground, turned her back against the tree, staring into the dark woods. She knew the wolf was too far away to suddenly appear, but that didn't stop fear from crawling through her body. She didn’t realize how close she stood to Keith who was still focused intently on the noise.   
  
The annoying thing about being afraid if you lose track of time.  You’re not sure if only a minute has passed or an hour. Katie didn't think it was more than a couple of minutes before they heard the howl again. It was deep and lasted longer than before, but luckily didn’t sound any closer. The young girl might not have been well versed in wolves, but she had heard the sounds of cats, dogs, horses, and wild boars that one time when her family was traveling. Keith was right. This sounded off.   
  
They turned, locking eyes as soon as the howl stopped. “Search in that direction,” Keith told her.  
  
“What?” she was taken aback by his abrupt statement.  
  
“Search trees in that direction. See if that's where it is,” He clarified.  She nodded, turning her body and once again pressing her palm to the same tree. Twenty more minutes went by; luckily they only heard the howl once more before Katie’s eyes shot open, “Keith….” she spoke just above a whisper. His eyes met hers in an instant.  Her voice was shaky, “I think I found it…..no, I know I found it. There is a large area a few miles that way,” she pointed. “What do we do?”  
  
Keith reached his arms forward and away from the girl, resummoning his sword. An unexpected bright light blinded Katie; she immediately closed her eyes, turning her head away from the offending brightness. Once her eyes readjusted, she saw a light was emanating from a small fire hovering in Keith’s right hand.  “A little warning next time would be nice,” she grumbled.  
  
“You said you have a weapon.  Take it out,” Keith said, his voice stern and demanding. Katie turned her body for as much privacy she could get, rolling up part of her dress to unhinge the katar that was strapped to her leg. The blade was shorter and wider than a normal katar, but a weapon was a weapon as long as you can wield it properly. “Let's go,” he turned and headed off towards the wolf and corruption.  
  
“Wait! You want to go towards the probably void corrupted wolf?” she shouted, her voice a combination of shock and annoyance.  
  
He stopped, whipping his head around to speak to her, “Wolves won’t actively hunt humans unless they enter their territory. If it is corrupted we don’t know what it’s capable of. Normal wolves hunt in packs at night, so if it resides in the corrupted space it should be empty for a while.”  
  
“You just said they only attack if we enter their territory, so you want us to do just that?” she said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
“Let's go,” he repeated, continuing his stride towards the edge of the clearing and into back into the forest.   
  
Katie had a really shit decision to make: head into the woods with Keith towards the wolf or possibly wolves, towards the corruption and probably towards their deaths, or wait in the clearing alone, with her minimal weapon knowledge, and pray it doesn’t find her. “Shit,” she said and raced towards the glowing fire that danced in Keith’s hand. “You’re going to get us both killed before we find anyone,” she spat at him.  
  
He didn’t say anything or acknowledge her comment,  just keeping his brisk pace. After ten minutes he asked her to check to make sure they were still headed in the right direction. She thought to lie but didn’t. They continued to walk, occasionally checking their trajectory making minor adjustments. The next time they heard the howl it sounded much closer, but at least it was north of them. Keith was right, it was out hunting away from their destination. The next time Katie checked their distance, she spoke, “We’re close.”  
  
It wasn’t long after that the ground felt different. Keith stopped and knelt, bringing the fire close to the ground. Even at night in the dark, they could see the dark purple ground they stood on. Eyes meeting again, they knew they had found their destination. They were in the corruption. Keith brought the flame up to the nearest tree. The bark was dried and blacken, half the leaves were missing and the other half that remained on the branches were dead. Katie, still wearing the oversized jacket, bought her arms to wrap around themselves, careful not to cut herself on her weapon. “We’re here, huh?”  
  
“Yeah. Stay close to me, okay,” Keith’s concerned voice was reassuring. She nodded, hoping he could see it in the dark. They took the next bit slower and more cautiously. The trees were becoming less dense and damage could be seen, deep gashes at different heights,. trees uprooted and leaning to the side, others completely on their side on the ground. They climbed over a downed tree and froze. Ten glowing yellow eyes watched them only yards away.   
  
  
Keith swung his right arm, the fire flew from his hand. It landed on a tree, part of the flame stuck to the tree while some of it bounced on to another, and another, in a circle. The area was now illuminated. It looked like another clearing, but smaller and definitely not man-made. There was just dirt, no grass, and the surrounding trees looked like a cat’s scratching post. Branches were broken off and laying on the ground, others were hanging limp, barely attached.   
  
In the center, five wolves stood before them, but the term wolves would be generous. They might have started as wolves but they were bigger, covered in what looked to be a thick black tar. What was once fur was jagged in areas. Three of the wolves growled, revealing a gaping maw filled with an unnatural amount of razor shape teeth.   
  
Keith adjusted himself into a fighting stance not a moment too soon. Suddenly, the closest wolf lunged at him. He crouched, waiting for the wolf’s body to be over him before thrusting his sword up impale the wolf. Its eyes went dull, as he quickly tugged his sword out of the lifeless wolf. Without a moment’s rest, the other four wolves were charging them. “GET READY!” he yelled, throwing a fireball hitting one directly in its face, causing it to reel back in pain, momentarily stopping its charge.   
  
Two of the remaining wolves set their eyes on Keith, growling and snapping their massive jaws at him. He rolled to the side to avoid becoming dinner; unfortunately, that meant rolling away from Katie, but at least he could see her and the remaining wolf that was swiping its claws at her. She dodged it just as easily as he did, but he was afraid of her limited mobility in her dress. She must have thought the same thing. At that moment, she used her blade to cut the side of her dress, giving her legs more freedom. Then, she let out a battle cry as she swung her weapon, slashing the wolf across its snout. At that point, Keith knew she would be okay until he got to her.   
  
He refocused on the two wolves continuing their assault. One went for another bite, while the other used its claws. Once again, he avoided the bite, this time launching a counter attack, swinging his sword and slashing at its side The claws he was a little slower to avoid he realized, feeling pain rake across his back. He cried out but quickly ignored his injury, swinging his body around to the offender. He saw the void creature lifting its other paw, ready to make another attack. Using the momentum of his body, he cut clean through its front leg. A thick black liquid oozed from its wound as it whined in pain, hopping away from him.   
  
“AAAHHHHHH!!!” The scream sent a chill down his spine. Katie was holding her side with her nonweapon hand, red was slowing staining his jacket. The wolf Keith first fireballed was trying to pincer the now hurt girl. “KATIE!” he screamed, throwing another fireball at the wolf.  It howled in pain, his fireball having been bigger this time. While Keith was distracted, the wolf still sporting all of its legs took full advantage, teeth sinking into his thigh. The wound was harder to ignore than the one on his back as a scream ripped from his throat. He reached behind to the dagger on his belt, plunging it into the wolf’s eye, stabbing over and over until it released its grip on his leg then quickly retreated.  
  
Leg now free, Keith immediately collapsed to his knee. “KEITH!!” The stupid wolf Keith kept setting a blaze was back and circling Kate with the other wolf she was able to injure. Sword in one hand, dagger in the other, he had no free hand to create any fireballs and began to panic.   
  
“BEHIND YOU!!!” his cry was full of fear, she just barely dodged the wolf’s lunge. It tore a good portion of her dress, but now she was on the ground, prone.   
  
The howl they heard earlier that night rang out again, causing the wolves to halt their attack. Emerging from the north was a massive dire wolf, easily the size of a small horse. It was covered in the same black tar but more mutated, four glowing yellow eyes and six legs. The smaller wolves let out a howl not as terrifying, but still pretty damn scary, and walked towards the larger wolf.   
  
Katie got up as fast as she could and ran to Keith, crashing to her knees beside him, “Keith, are you alright?!”   
  
“Katie,” panic filled his voice, “You need to run, I’ll hold them off for as long as I can but you need to run. Do you understand me?!”  
  
“No! I can't just leave you here!” She said, gripping his arm.  
  
“You can and you will. You know where this place is. Come back with reinforcement from the garrison. Find out what happened to our families. He stood ignoring the immense pain in his leg and back. “Now go!” he said, elbowing her away from him.  
  
“Please come back. I don’t want to lose anyone else,” she cried.  He could hear the anguish in her voice and dared not look. The sound of her standing and running away from this death zone was enough to allow him to breathe. He focused his magic into the dagger, causing it to erupt in flames, taking the form of another sword.   
  
The dire wolf was eyed its prey and stalked towards him. Holding his ground, soul sword in one hand and blazing sword in the other, he wasn’t going to let this thing get to Katie. Keith watched it’s body movements, waiting for it to charge, and as soon as it did he was ready. Keith jumped to the side out of its grasp, but with his injured leg, it wasn't nearly as far as he had hoped. He did avoid its attack, but as soon as the beast was next to him it whipped its head around, jaws latching onto his right arm before whipping its head to the other side and releasing it’s grip, effectively throwing Keith across the clearing, slamming him into a tree.  
  
Keith’s head was spinning from the impact. He had no time to recover; it was charging him again. He lunged to his right trying to keep his distance from the smaller wolves. He figured they wouldn’t intervene but why take that chance. The dire wolf slammed into the tree but shaking it off like it was nothing and charged at him again. He was too slow to move and its head crashed dead on into his chest, sending him tumbling. He was on his hands and knees, trying to get back up when he noticed the lack of flame engulfing the dagger in his hand. Shit, he thought, realizing he must have dropped it what he was being tossed around like a ragdoll. With no time left, the wolf charging with its mouth opened wide, all he could do was hold up his arm to protect his head from being bitten off. The wolf’s mouth closed around his arm, teeth piercing his skin, the force knocking him onto his back. Keith was screaming in pain but he wasn’t going to die, not yet. The sword dropped from his now chew toy arm. He grabbed it with his right hand, plunging into the giant neck.   
  
The beast let go of his arm, jumping a step back, sword still in its neck, leaving Keith weaponless. Both of Keith’s arms were covered in blood and puncture wounds, he used what strength he had left to prop himself up against a tree and conjure flames in each hand. He wasn’t beaten yet, any extra seconds he could give Katie were worth it. The monstrosity in front of him was growling, its eyes bloodthirsty. Guess shoving a sword in its neck is a great way to piss it off, Keith thought.   
  
“Come on you bastard,” he yelled, but before it could take a step further something shot out from the woods, hitting the beast directly in the head and causing a small explosion. The force caused it to stumble to the side, but it only took another moment for it to recover before it focused its eyes on the cause of its pain.   
  
Keith’s eyes did the same, making out a humanoid figure with a glowing blue longbow. He wore the same garrison uniform, the silver trim sparkled from the light of his fire. “HUNK! GET KEITH OUT OF HERE! HE’S HURT!” the figured yelled.   
  
That voice. Keith spoke so quietly he wasn’t even sure he made a sound, “Lance?”


	4. Your Savior is Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't realize how long this chapter turned out, until my beta was like -.- "it's 5k words." So I hope you enjoy this extra long chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, comments, or things feel free to leave a comment or message me, @ [Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr

Keith was still trying to comprehend what, or rather who he was seeing. Standing before him was a tall lanky boy holding a glowing blue longbow. Even in the dark forest, lit only by the dancing fires on the trees, Keith could make out the boy’s shaggy brown hair and ocean blue eyes. The wolf snarled bearing it’s mangled teeth, taking off, charging the archer. Before Keith could follow its movements a figure burst from the trees near him, looking around until he saw Keith. He was a large man with dark hair and skin, beside him stood a smaller figure. It took Keith a second to focus, “Katie?!”  
  
“KEITH!” they ran to his side.   
  
The man beside Katie spoke, “Keith, right? I’m Hunk, and you know Katie. We’re gonna get you out of here.”  
  
“WOLVES!” Keith yelled, pointing with his hand still conjuring fire. The extra two bodies worth of food must have gotten the attention of the four injured, but still alive smaller wolves because they started charging the three of them.  
  
“Oh man!” Hunk was fumbling with his crossbow that Keith didn’t notice until now. He rapidly fired bolts at the wolves, two of them dropping to the ground, finally dead. Keith lobbed his fire, catching a third square in the chest, listening to its screams as it collapsed with the others. The fourth wolf only took a bolt to the side and was still viciously charging.   
  
“Oh no,” Hunk said as he turned to wrap Katie and Keith in a great hug, pressing them to his chest. The wolf leaped into the air, mouth open, teeth ready to tear at flesh and crashed into Hunk’s back. A great snap echoed through the woods, resembling the sound of a tree branch snapping. When the three looked at the wolf its jaw was snapped open, only hanging onto one side of its mouth by a strand of flesh. The pair look at Hunk confused. “Earth Magi, I can harden my skin like a rock,” he explained with a shrug.   
  
Before they could respond, there was a howl of pain and they were reminded of the giant wolf and its new prey. The prey was doing pretty well, staying a good distance away, pulling back on the longbow, a matching blue arrow appearing and flying into the now very injured beast. All four of its eyes were closed and covered in some sort of gunk. The blinded beast was lashing out randomly in any and all directions, looking for its attacker. “What did you do to it?” Hunk nonchalantly called to his friend.  
  
“Mud in its eyes. Makes it a lot easier to keep a distance if it can’t see you!” Lance rolled away, easily avoiding another attack.  
  
“That doesn’t seem very fair Lance!” Hunk shouted.   
  
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was proper etiquette to killing mutated void wolves! Next time remind me and I’ll look it up the proper way as my dumbass partner gets eaten alive?!” With two more well-aimed shots to the head, the massive direwolf crashed to the ground, lifeless. Lance dismissed his soul weapon longbow and placed his hands on his leg, bending over to breath.   
  
“Are you okay?” Katie turned her attention back to Keith. The wolves might be dead but the fire mage was still hurt.  
  
“I’ve been better,” was all the response Keith could muster. Everywhere hurt and he was mentally exhausted from his magic use and the overall fight.   
  
“I can’t heal you here, I need to get you to another part of the forest; one that isn’t dead. Are you able to move? Hunk can you carry him?” Katie’s hands are hovering over Keith, afraid he’d break if she were to touch him. Her nervous gaze turned to Hunk with her last statement.  
  
“No need for that young lady,” He smiled, “Hey Lance, you wanna do something before your knight bleeds out?” Hunk called again to his friend.  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Lance jogged over, standing to overlook Keith, eyes examining the injured body below him. Letting out a sigh he mumbled, “You missed a leg,” and sat cross-legged next to him.   
  
“There were five corrupted wolves and a direwolf. I’d like to see you do better,” Keith scoffed.   
  
Lance raised an eyebrow and peered back to the dead direwolf, back to Keith, to the wolf, and ending his gaze on Keith, “Looks to me like I did," he spoke with a smug grin.  
  
“You didn’t even touch the other wolves! Besides I had to worry about protecting Katie!” Keith exclaimed, glaring at Lance and leaning more into his space.  
  
“And you did a shit job at that! Why were you even taking a civilian into a void zone!?” Lance yelled, now only inches from Keith’s face.  
  
“Alright, that's enough!” Hunk bellowed shoving his arm between the boys and wedging them apart. “You two can bicker later.  Right now Keith is hurt and needs attention,” his eyes darted between the two as he spoke. Lance averted his eyes, looking at anything other than Hunk or Keith, while Keith’s gaze fell to the ground.  
  
After a moment, Lance sighed, looking at his partner and holding out his hand. “Arm,” he requests, his voice soft. Still looking at the dirt, Keith holds his arm out to rest in the other’s hand. Lance flipped his hands over, allowing them to hover over the top of the injured arm. He took another breath and on the exhale his hands began to glow a light blue. From the light, water started to form with the same glow and enveloped the injuries. Once the water stretched fully around Keith’s arm, Lance started moving his hands in small circles up and down, water ebbing and flowing with his movements. The water had a bit of a chill to it, but a soothing one that cooled the inflamed skin. The pain was quickly fading and after a couple minutes completely disappeared along with what used to be teeth marks.   
  
“Alright other side now,” Lance said, starting to push himself off the ground to stand. He was interrupted when he saw a wide-eyed head hovering practically in his face. “Whoa!” he fell back to a sitting position, “What are you doing there?!”  
  
Bright brown eyes met his ocean blue, “You’re a water mage! And one that can heal! That's really rare! Only about ten percent of all water magi can heal!” Katie squealed, unable to control her excitement. One would think she hadn’t almost been eaten by wolves just minutes prior.   
  
“Yeah I am,” he said, sounding a bit sheepish.  
  
“His arm!” she reached out, yanking Keith’s now healed arm to her face. “There isn’t any scaring?” She trailed her fingers over his arm with zero regards for personal space.  She continued her litany of questions,  “How did you do this? I thought healing magic could only speed up a target’s natural recovery system. And with wounds that deep they should have left some sort of scar or mark."  
  
Lance was forced to sit back down as Katie climbed over him to manhandle Keith’s arm more. “Yeah, that’s normally the case, but I learned when I was younger how to heal without leaving any scars. My mother would have killed me if she saw the injuries I got while playing as a child. Besides, I’d rather not leave permanent marks on this body.” Lance smirked gesturing to his own body with his hands, not noticing Keith rolling his eyes at the comment.  
  
Hunk gently placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder and lightly pulled her back, away from Lance. Using his other hand he dislodged her from Keith’s arm, “Katie was it? Let Lance here finish healing Keith and then he can take a look at you. And when he is finished you can ask him all the questions you want. Okay?” He spoke with a safe and reassuring smile.  
  
“Fine,” she sighed, her attention redirected to the much bigger man in front of her, “What about you? You said you were an Earth Magi, right? What kind of magic are you able to do?” Lance did his best to maneuver around the bodies and sat down on Keith’s more injured side. He conjured water and healed the second arm in the same fashion as the first. Keith remained silent as his body was brought back to health, eyes focused on Lance’s hands as they worked.  
  
Hunk sat down on the ground in front of Katie and answered her, “Yup, one hundred percent Earth Magi here.” He pointed to himself with his thumb, “I’m not able to do that much more than that. Never bothered with any training.”  
  
“Which you could have gotten at the garrison!” Lance called out,  looking up from his work.  
  
Hunk ignored his friend’s outburst and continues, “I can create and manipulate smaller boulders for a short period of time and I can alter my skin to different hardnesses as you saw before with that wolf. Though I spend most of my time helping my family and building cool toys.” A smirk crossed his face, “Like this baby here.” He held up his crossbow with one hand letting it rest on his other.  
  
Katie’s eyes gave the weapon a once over before looking up at the still smiling man in front of her. “Can I?” she asked, worried he’ll refuse because of her age or gender. Without a word, the crossbow was gently lowered into her hands and she immediately started examining it.   
  
“Can you please not give deadly weapons to children Hunk? Is that too much to ask?” Lance scoffed. Katie’s inquisitive eyes turned to slits, as she narrowed her eyes and glared at the source of the voice.  
  
“Can you shut up for more than thirty seconds? Is that too much to ask?” Keith snaps.  
  
“Excuse me? Did you forget who is healing your dumbass?” Lance shouted.  
  
“How can I forget when he doesn’t stop talking!” Keith snarled.  
  
The two continued to bicker, making Hunk roll his eyes, but he kept his smile and whispered to Katie,  “The safety is on, go wild.”   
  
Katie giggled as the smile returned to her face. She began turning the crossbow over and looking at it from different angles saying things like “Oh,” “I see,” “Interesting.” She finally looked up, inquiring, “How far can this shoot?”  
  
Hunk scratched the back of his head thinking for a moment, “I think about eighty feet.”   
  
“I can do better,” she looked back at the weapon, “we need to use a different wood. The ironwood trees of Daibazal would work. And this coil...” She closes one eye and uses the other to peer inside, “we need to increase the spring constant. I can get you at least one hundred feet. Might be beneficial to add a scope to the top to increase accuracy.” She finally tore her eyes away and looked up, “What do you think?”  
  
Hunk’s smile was now covering his whole face, “I think we are going to be great friends.”   
  
It took Katie a moment to realize what he meant, but when she did her face softened and she grew a matching smile.   
  
“So how come you didn’t attend the Garrison?” she asked as she lowered the crossbow. “They have a technology section you’d be perfect for!”  
  
Hunk’s smile faded, his face drooping. “After Dad died I didn’t want to leave my Mother to run the tavern all alone,” he said quietly.   
  
“Oh,” Katie said, at a loss for words, her smile fading as well. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.  
  
“Thanks…” Hunk tried to force a smile, “So how come you haven’t joined the Garrison?”   
  
Katie was grateful he was able to shift the conversation. “I’m too young,” she began, “They don’t let you take the entry test until you’re seventeen for the Science department. I think it’s stupid, considering you only need to be sixteen to start training in their offensive division.”  
  
“Oh,” Hunk responded before the awkward silence settled back in. Neither would ever admit to it, but they were grateful for what they heard next.  
  
“At least I’m not the love child of an angry shadow and a depressed cat with a bad haircut!” Lance’s voice cut through the clearing.   
  
“Lance that doesn’t even make any sense.” Keith deadpanned  
  
“You don’t make any sense!” Lance shouted, clearly beyond aggravated at the stubborn exchange.   
  
Hunk let out a sigh, a smile creeping back on his face. “Excuse me, madam, while I tend to the children,” he winked, causing Katie to let out a giggle. “Are you two finished yet?” He called, raising his voice and grabbing everyone’s attention.  
  
Keith and Lance were standing now, Keith’s left arm held across his chest and his right hand pinching the bridge of his nose. Lance had his arms flared out above his head, his face is a bit red from yelling. They both stop, granting Hunk their attention. “Um..” Lance responded, moving one hand to rub the back of his neck, “Yeah, Keith’s fully healed. How is the girl? Was she hurt?”  
  
“The girl’s name is Katie, and I’m okay for now,” she huffed, “Think we can continue this conversation when we’re not in the center of a void zone?”  
  
“Yeah,” Hunk agreed, “This place gives me the creeps. Let's find a spot outside the corruption and make camp for the night.”  
  
“Sounds like a plan, but first...” Keith headed towards where his dagger was thrown during the fight. He picked it up and resheathed it, ignoring the three pairs of eyes following his movements. “Let's go,” he walked out of the clearing back into the thick woods.  
  
“Wait!” Lance called, “This way.”   
  
Keith shut his eyes tight and clenched his fist. ‘Did Lance really need to start another fight, this time over which way is the correct way out?’ He thought, opening his mouth to say some choice words he was probably going to regret, but before he could Lance spoke again, “Hunk we dropped our stuff over here right?”   
  
“Yeah. I think just over by that tree,” Hunk agreed.  
  
“Hunk…..there are a lot of trees,” Lance commented  
  
“No, that one the big one.”  
  
“They’re all big trees!”  
  
“No, no, the BIG tree! Just follow me.”  
  
Keith watched the two as they move through the woods, Lance had his hands behind his head, following Hunk.   
  
“You okay?” a soft voice asked behind him.  He hadn’t even heard Katie approach him.   
  
He looked down to see the concerned girl staring up at him and gave a reassuring smile, “I’m fine, what about you?”  
  
“A couple of scratches and body aches, but nothing serious. My dress on the other hand,” Katie lifted a strip of cloth barely attached to her dress, “Remind me to dress appropriately next time we decide to wander into a void zone.”  
  
They both laughed, “You should have Lance take a look,” Keith mentioned. The girl raised an eyebrow still holding her dress. “I mean at your scratches, not the dress,” Keith clarified, “I don’t think any amount of healing can save your dress.”  
  
She laughed again, “What? You mean to tell me healing magic doesn’t work on clothing?”   
The more she examined tattered garment, the more she was finding more tears and holes, “He wouldn’t happen to know how to sew would he?”  
  
Keith ran a hand through his hair, “I actually don’t know much about Lance,” he said shyly, “I know that he can be loud, annoying, and obnoxious at times.” He paused, “But he’s a good healer.”  
  
She smirked, “Sounds like you know from experience.”  
  
“Yeah well, he’s my partner. I’ve gotten hurt on a number of our missions and every time he healed me he made sure I never got any scars. He loves to remind me, ‘Even Idiots don’t need to be reminded of their mistakes’,” Keith didn’t realize his mouth was betraying him even going a far as showing a soft smile.  
  
“Sounds like he’s a good friend.” She grinned, but just as quickly as it appeared it faded. “Something I’m not...” She pulled her arms to her chest and began rubbing her elbows. She bit her lip and forced herself to look at Keith, “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, and almost got you killed protecting me. I’m really glad you’re okay.”  
  
“Funny, I remembered it as me being the one to drag you here,” He said enunciating the ‘me’ and ‘you’ as he spoke, “Besides we’re both alive and one step closer to figuring out the truth.”  
  
“Yeah we are!” she said, the guilt encasing her words was vanishing and replaced with enthusiasm.  
  
Keith let out a sigh, “You’re right though, Lance is a good friend. I just don’t think he sees me as one.” Keith knew it was true, but for some reason, it hurt when he said it out loud. In the distance, he saw the boy in question walking back with Hunk next to him. They were both laughing and grinning.   
  
“Hey,” Katie got his attention again as he turned his head back to her, “I’m far from a friend expert, but I think you two just need to get over whatever that was back there. Besides, if he wasn’t your friend, why did he come out here to save us?” she asked, nudging his side with her elbow.   
  
A realization occurred to Keith, “That's right, how did he know to come out here? This forest is huge and we spent most of the day looking for this spot.” Katie shared his confused look.  
  
“Whatcha talking about?” Lance approached them right on queue. He had a large backpack slung over one shoulder gripping the strap so it wouldn't fall. Hunk stood next to his friend with a similarly large backpack on his back.   
  
Keith crossed his arms, “We were just wondering how you both knew where we would be and how you showed up at the exact right moment.”  
  
Lance flapped his free hand up and down in front of him as he spoke, “Oh that's simple. I’m stalking you, duh.” The response was so quick and sounded so natural coming from Lance’s mouth, it left Keith speechless and really creeped out. But Lance could only hold a straight face for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.  
  
“You’re the worst sometimes, you know that?” Hunk shoved his laughing friend. “We came out here cause of this lil guy,” he shook a rectangular device in his hand.  It had an antenna coming from the top, a screen on it upper half with a resting needle, and the lower half had a couple knobs and a big button, “I made this guy to help detect void zones.”  
  
Brown eyes sparkled with excitement, “Really?! How does it work?!” Katie was already trying to pry it out of his hands.  
  
“Whoa there little lady,” he had to lift his hand a bit higher before his precious device was lost to the abyss known as Katie. “All beings emit a light frequency, so this baby is designed to pick up the frequencies at the lower end of the spectrum--”  
  
“You used Fraunhofer lines to detect the light absorption given off by the void!” Katie interrupted to summarizing the rest of his explanation. “Hunk that's ingenious!” She bounced with excitement. Something she has been doing a lot today, or rather since yesterday. Keith, on the other hand, was incredibly confused, he looked to Lance for some sort of explanation. The other boy looked just as lost and responded with a shrug.  
  
Hunk rubbed the back of his neck, “I wouldn’t say ingenious, but the best part about this is how it’s able to isolate--”  
  
“Okay nerds!” Lance bellowed, “Can’t this wait until we’re out of the scary void zone you two were asking to leave not two minutes ago?” Before waiting for a response he turned and headed off in the original direction Keith pointed out before.   
  
Keith turned and followed without a word, while Katie looked annoyed. She wanted to hear more, not every day did she meet someone as smart as Hunk. “Who said we can’t walk and talk?” Hunk grinned. So they did, following behind the Garrison partners and chatting away.  
  
Keith walked beside Lance, who kept stealing quick glances at the shorter boy. Keith finally caved, eyes still facing forward, “What? Why do you keep looking at me?”  
  
“Sorry,” Lance paused before speaking with concern, “You sure you’re okay? I didn’t miss any injuries while healing you right?”   
  
Keith wasn’t expecting that, he turned to look at the boy next too him. Lance didn’t meet his eyes, just continued forward. His Guardian usually gloated about how great a healer he was and how Keith should appreciate him more. ‘Not all Knights get a Guardian that can heal and when they do they aren’t nearly as good as me.’ Lance would say, but when Lance spoke just now it didn't have any of his usual arrogance, just worry. “Yeah, I’m fine you healed all my wounds,” Keith assured, picking his words carefully trying to figure out what the sudden question was all about.  
  
“Cool,” Lance gave a single word answer still walking forward. The silence and weird atmosphere only lasted a minute before Lance furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. Stopping completely he turned to Keith, the worry was written all over him, “Why did you have to go out here by yourself? Why didn’t you ask me to come with or just wait for me? I told you this morning Hunk and I were going to come out here after class!”  
  
The sudden outburst made Keith stop in his tracks, turning with wide eyes. “I--,” he stumbled on his words, “I wasn’t alone, I had Katie with me.” He knew that was a bad answer and wasn't surprised when blue eyes narrowed at him. Lance slowly crossed his arms, waiting for a better answer. Keith knew he was going to screw up this explanation and looked to Katie for help, but she and Hunk were trailing behind, still chatting away. He looked back to a very annoyed Guardian and did the best he could to explain, “I wasn’t planning on coming out here, it just sorta happened.” Yeah, he knew that explanation sucked and Lance probably wasn't going to be happy with it. He shifted uncomfortably before continuing, “Katie’s father and brother are Samuel and Matthew Holt. They also went missing on the Kerberos Mission.” He didn’t realize how quiet he spoke.  
  
“Keith…” Lance began, and Keith cringed expecting the lecture that always follows, ‘Shiro is dead, he’s not coming back, you need to get over it.’ Instead, Lance let out another heavy sigh, “Next time wait for me okay.” Lance’s body seemed to lost the tension it once held as he continued, “I don’t want to be known as that Guardian that let his Knight die cause he wandered off on his own.” He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.   
  
Keith was definitely not expecting that, wondering if Lance was genuinely concerned. With a grin, Keith responded, “Nah, you’ll just be known as the annoying, subpar Guardian.”  
  
Lance made the most overly dramatic, over the top gasp, while he grasped his heart with his hand, “You take that back!” Maybe it was the exhaustion or mental fatigue from recent magic usage but Keith couldn’t help but laugh at that.  
  
“What are you two doing?” Hunk asked, walking up with Katie by his side. “We camping here?” He looked around, seeing they were back on fertile soil and out of the corruption.  
  
“Keith is just being mean to me again!” Lance wailed, mimicking a toddler.   
  
Hunk rolled his eyes and dropped his backpack to the ground, “Nope, it’s way too late, and I’m way too tired for this. I’m making an executive decision and we’re making camp for the night here.” Lance followed suit, removing his backpack and the two began setting up a small camp. Katie sat next to Keith as they watched, two bedrolls were set up, what looked to be a pot was placed in the center of everyone, being filled with sticks and chopped wood. “Keith, do you mind?” Hunk gestured to the wood.  
  
“Oh sure,” with a flick of his wrist, a small fireball flew towards the wood, igniting it on impact. The warmth felt good, Katie already started inching closer, trying to warm herself up. Now that there was a better light source than the moonlight, Keith noticed the scratches on Katie’s upper back and the blood-soaked stain on his jacket. “I thought you said you were okay!” his voice was filled with annoyance, anger, and concern.  
  
“Oh..it’s not that bad… I was just distracted-” She deflected.  
  
“Lance!”  Keith shouted. The boy looked up at the call of his name, “Can you heal Katie? She took some bad hits from those wolves.”  
  
“Sure thing!” he called cheerfully, “Mind finishing up the bedrolls for me?” Keith gave a nod and they switched places. For the next couple of minutes, the four each had a job, Katie pointed out her injuries while Lance healed them, Keith finished setting up the beds, and Hunk dug through the backpacks, producing water bottles and enough food to feed a small army.  
  
“Alright!” Hunk bellowed, “Let's eat!” He started passing out wrapped sandwiches and water.  
  
Katie glanced over her shoulder at Lance as he finished up, “How long were you planning on staying out here for?”  
  
“The plan was to see if his device worked and could it lead us to a void zone. Then go back to the garrison and try to get them to mass produce them. So maybe a day, day and a half if it didn’t work. I think I got all the gashes, you good?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m all good now thanks.” She nodded, “So then, why so much food?” She asked, taking a sandwich and unwrapping it.  
  
“Cause Hunk’s food is amazing! Never question his food!” Lance’s sudden outburst sounded like he was offended, but one bite into his food and a smile reaching from ear to ear formed, “So good.”   
  
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Hunk scolded. “I enjoy cooking so I may have gone a bit overboard, but it’s a good thing or we’d have to be scavenging the woods for fruits and nuts. And that doesn't sound very appealing to me.” Keith and Katie's gazes immediately met and they both grinned at each other. “Let's finish eating then get some sleep,” Hunk continued, “Do you think we’re close enough to the corruption that the animals won’t come near us?”  
  
“Can’t be too careful, I’ll stay up and keep watch. You three get some rest,” Keith volunteered.  
  
“I’m keeping watch too!” Lance immediately interjected, “No way Keith was going to take all the credit for keeping watch.  
  
“Seriously?” Keith grumbled. It was far too late to deal with Lance drama. “You need sleep more than any of us. Or did you suddenly forget how much energy you spent healing, using your soul weapon, and whatever water magic you used on that dire wolf?” Keith figured he would shoot down Lance’s dumb idea before he made a competition out of it.  
  
“You used your soul weapon too!” he yelled accusingly, “And how many fireballs did you create, huh? You’re probably just as exhausted as I am! Plus I wasn't used as a wolf’s chew toy!” Yeah, this was happening, both males were too stubborn to yield to the other.  
  
“You and I both know your healing takes more energy than either of our offensive spells!” the fire mage was grinding his teeth in frustration, you could almost see the fire in his violet eyes.   
  
“Why don’t we all take a shift!” Katie suggested, hoping to avoid another stupid argument. Her eyes bounced between the two boys, trying to gauge their reactions.  
  
“It’s too late in the night,” Hunk spoke up calmly, “No point in all of us getting terrible sleep. Lance, Keith is right you need rest more than any of us. Keith can take the first watch and I’ll take second. I’m used to getting up early anyway.”   
  
Lance pouted but didn’t argue, “Fine, whatever. I need my beauty sleep anyway,” he crawled over to his bed.   
  
“That's not fair, I want to help too!” Katie protested. She hated being treated like a child. She was smarter than most adults, but due to her age and gender, no one saw her as more than a little girl.  
  
“I know you do Katie,” Keith spoke gently, “But Hunk didn’t go hand to hand with two corrupted wolves. You should rest up in case we come across anything dangerous tomorrow.” He was right and she knew it so she didn’t object.  
  
“Why don’t you and Lance share his bedroll. You’re both small enough” Hunk suggested while getting comfortable in his own. Katie nodded and made her way to the exhausted brunette. Lance shifted over making room, gesturing he was fine with it. She slid in trying to leave as much space between the two of them without falling off the tarp, it was only about an inch and a half.  
  
With a wicked grin, Keith called out, “Better watch yourself, Lance. Katie still has her katar on her and I'm sure wouldn’t hesitate to use it if provoked.” Katie snickered to herself but there was no reaction from the other boy, he was already passed out and sleeping. So much for his big talk of splitting night watch.  
  
“Good night everyone,” Hunk called, “Wake me in about three hours unless you get tired before that.”  
  
“I'll be fine,” Keith assured him. “Good night.”  
  
“Night guys.”  
  
With that it was silent. The only noises were that of the fire burning and soft breathing. Keith laid against a tree, watching his companions peacefully sleep. He was used to taking night watches from the Garrison so he knew how to tell time. Over the next three hours, nothing happened. No animals came near them and though no one voiced it aloud, they all had a suspicion there could be something else hiding in the corruption. There wasn’t unless it just didn't feel like bothering them. He did notice, at some point, Katie inched closer to Lance, probably for warmth, and a while later Lance flipped his body and encased her in his arms. It was kind of sweet seeing them cuddle, let's just hope Katie thought that when she woke.   
  
Soon enough, it was time for his shift to end and Keith crept over to Hunk and shook him awake. The bigger man woke with a yawn and stretched. He climbed out of his bed and saw the smaller boy laying on the ground with his eyes already closed. “What are you doing?” Hunk whispered.  
  
Keith opened one eye to look at Hunk whispering back, “Trying to get some sleep.”  
  
Hunk sighed, “Use my bed.”  
  
“I’m not cold I can use my magic to increase my temperature.”  
  
“Well you can't use magic to make the ground softer, just use the damn thing,” Hunk huffed.  
  
Hunk was right and the ground was really hard. The older boy stood and made his way to the bed, crawling inside he mumbled, “Thank you.” Hunk’s only response was a smile.


	5. The Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter recap:  
> Lance and Hunk showed up to save the day. They all spend the night in the forest just outside the Corruption and get to know each other a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got really dumb and was being very indecisive about my terminology. So I'm pretty sure I screwed up at some point, but luckily we have a wonderful Lancey Lance who will clarify terms in this chapter so I feel better.
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith felt like he just drifted off to sleep moments ago, the sun’s rays were obnoxiously shining on his eyelids. He scrunched his face, groaning and hoping the sun would show mercy; it did not. He burrowed deeper into the bed in an attempt hide his face from the light, a light-hearted chuckle coming from behind him. With another groan, he flipped the blanket off him, sitting up and rubbing his face with his hands. He turned to the source of the laughter. “I didn’t mean to wake you, go back to sleep Keith. You had a long day yesterday,” Hunk said, keeping his voice low.   
  
“Can’t,” Keith replied, stretching his arms, “Once I'm awake, I can’t get back to sleep.” He looked around, his other two companions were still sleeping, wrapped in each other arms. It was actually pretty cute and even made him smile a little. He stood and stretched some more, realizing his back wasn’t in pain and felt pretty good.  ‘Guess it was a good idea to not sleep directly on the ground.’ He turned to face Hunk, rubbing the back of his neck and speaking, “Um..thanks again for not letting me sleep on the ground.”  
  
“Anytime,” the bigger man smiled. “I know you just woke up, but if you want some water or a snack,” he said, gesturing to the bag next to him, “Once they wake up, I’ll make some breakfast. How do you feel about eggs and bacon?”  
  
Keith was not awake enough to question why Hunk brought so much food. “Sounds great,” he said, walking to the backpack and taking a bottle of water. He drank it on his walk back to the bedroll and began putting it away, rolling the mat and folding the blanket. Hunk watched him, anxiously tapping his fingers together. He wanted to have a friendly conversation with Keith, but his attempts failed. The two didn't speak, just listened to the sounds of the waking forest around them.   
  
It stayed that way until they heard a groggy yawn, both of them looking over to Katie who sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her long brown hair now resembled a dead raccoon that was electrocuted one too many times. It was twice its normal volume, strands pointing in all directions, and very tangled. The boys did what they could to stifle a laugh at the poor girl's bed head. “What are you two laughing at?” she asked between a yawn.   
  
Hunk looked at Keith for help, not wanting to offend the girl. Keith showed no mercy, “I can't tell if that's the best or worst case of bed head I've ever seen.” He grinned at her.   
  
Her hands flew to her head.  Horror enveloped her face as she felt the bird’s nest that sat on her head. She frantically patted it down, trying to smooth her hair and calm it down. “Knowing Lance he probably brought a mirror and brush if you want to look in his bag,” Hunk pointed to the other bag. Completely forgetting about the boy sleeping next to her, she dove out of bed to the bag, it was amazing she didn’t wake him. It only took a few seconds before the entire contents of Lance’s bag was scattered across the ground and Katie was triumphantly holding a brush and mirror.   
  
Hunk chuckled, pulling items from his bag, “I’m going to start on breakfast, you two wanna wake Lance and start packing up?”   
  
“Let's not wake him yet,” Keith quickly spoke, giving his attention back to the bedroll and making sure neither saw his face. He knew they were going to ask why not, so he spoke again before they could, “I’m enjoying the quiet,” he mumbled. But there was no malice or anger in his voice. Neither questioned him and for that he was glad.  
  
Once Katie's hair was back to normal she made her way over to Keith. “Morning. Um...Thanks for your Jacket, it was really warm,” she held out her arm to him, jacket hanging from her hand. “Sorry for the holes and errr….blood,” her face was red in embarrassment, but she forced herself to look at him.  
  
Keith took the offering, slipping his arms into it, “Don’t worry about it. Besides, the Garrison is used to cleaning and patching these up.” He continued to button his jacket when she plopped down next to him taking a swig of his water.  
  
“Warm water is gross,” she said, wrinkling her nose and sticking out her tongue. “Think when Lance wakes I can ask him to chill it for me?”   
  
“NO!” Keith’s eyes widened, he didn't realize how loud he yelled, quickly looking to make sure Lance was still asleep, luckily he was. Keith ignored the weird look Hunk was giving him and went back to the stunned girl. “Lance can’t use ice magic,” his voice trailed.  
  
“But he’s a water mage, water and ice magic go hand in hand,” she raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
  
“Apparently not when you know healing magic. He gets really upset when it’s brought up,” his gaze fell back to the sleeping boy, “During one of our earlier missions we were with another pair. The Knight wanted him to do something with frost and when Lance said he couldn’t the Knight tore into him, saying some shitty things that made Lance storm off. He and I might not be friends but we’re partners, and we look after each other.” He looked back to Katie with a wicked smirk, “That asshole’s nose never set properly after I broke it.” Katie grew a matching devilish smile as Keith continued, “I found Lance a little ways away. I knew he was crying, his face was red and his eyes were puffy. When he saw me he tried to act like things were okay, saying ‘he was fine and needed to walk away before he kicked that guy’s ass,’ so I didn’t push the subject”   
  
“What did Lance say when he saw the guy with a now broken nose?” Katie anxiously passed the water bottle back and forth in her hands.   
  
Keith chuckled, “The asshole said he tripped and fell on a rock.” The two shared a laugh together before Keith continued, “Lance was angry, but he wasn’t going to deprive him of healing if asked. Lucky that guy was so embarrassed, he never asked.”  
  
Katie looked at the Keith with soft eyes and a sincere smile, “I don’t know what you are talking about Keith, you two are totally friends.”  
  
“I’m still not so sure about that,” he murmured, the smile gone from his face. He quickly changed the subject,  “Anyway, how are you feeling?”  
  
She took another gulp out of the offending water bottle, “Really good actually. I mean compared to yesterday.” She held up fingers, counting as she spoke, “between meeting you, finding the fake Kerberos spot, finding the real Kerberos spot, those wolves, those two,” she tilted her head towards Hunk, “and almost dying, I feel like today will be a walk in the park.” Keith chuckled. “But most of all we know the Garrison pulled some shady shit and our families might not be dead.”  
  
Keith nodded, “We’ll head back there after breakfast and see if we can find any clues.”  
  
“Hell yeah we will!” she exclaimed, before quickly covering her mouth, forgetting Lance was still sleeping. She turned to the sleeping boy, hoping she didn’t wake him.  
  
Katie watched Hunk hovering over his friend and shaking him awake, “Alright sleeping beauty, breakfast is almost ready. Wake up, Lance.” Incoherent mumbling and groning escaped Lance’s mouth. He tried to roll over and hide under the blanket, but Hunk wasn’t going to allow this behavior.  He grabbed the blanket, and in one quick motion ripped it off the boy and started rolling it into a ball in his arms. “Nope, you’re getting up,” Hunk announced.  
  
Lance squealed as the morning air hit him, curling into himself. “Huuuuuuuunk,” he whined.   
  
Hunk walked back to the cooking fire to finish up and shouting, “Get up, Lance!” Turning to face the others, he continued, “Do you think you can get the plates from my pack as I finish up.” Katie hopped to the pack in excitement from smelling the food and dug through it. Keith followed behind, snatching a water and continued towards Lance, who was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Keith took a seat next to him, shoving the water into his chest.  
  
The water mage lived up to his element and drank nearly the whole bottle without stopping. “You get enough rest?” Keith asked.  
  
Lance shrugged, “My body would appreciate longer, but I’ve dealt with worse. You?” He turned his head towards his partner, screwing the cap back on the bottle.  
  
“About the same,” Keith answered honestly, “as long as we don’t encounter any more shadow fiends, I’ll be fine.  
  
“Breakfast is served!” Hunk said, standing in front of them and handing each boy a plate with two eggs and four slices of bacon, along with a fork. Katie was close behind, handing Hunk one of her two plates and sitting across from the boys. “Bon appetit!”   
  
Sounds of ‘mmmmmm’ and chewing filled the air. “Hunk this is so good!” Katie complimented after another bite of egg.  
  
“It is really good,” Keith agreed.  
  
“Glad you like it,” Hunk beamed.  
  
“Hunk…..buddy….love of my life….” Lance began.  
  
“No, Lance,” Hunk ignored his friend and took another bite.  
  
“You sure you won't reconsider? I’d make a great wife!” Lance pleaded.  
  
Hunk didn’t look up, “Lance, I’m not marrying you, and you would make a terrible wife.”  
  
Keith couldn’t hold back a snort, causing Lance to swiftly glare and elbow him before redirecting his attention back to Hunk, “Your words cut deep man. Here I am confessing my love to you--”  
  
“You only love me because of my cooking,” Hunk interrupted.  
  
“And amazing personality! High intelligence, what can I say you’re a Hunk,” Lance exclaimed, giving a bad wink while the others groaned at his pun. “Besides your mother loves me, she would be thrilled to have me as a son-in-law!” Lance asserted, now wide awake and foregoing eating in an attempt to win Hunk’s hand.  
  
“I can’t with you,” Hunk laughed, shaking his head with a huge grin, “Just shut up and eat.”  
  
“You love me,” Lance smiled, finally picking up his fork again and eating.  
  
Katie’s plate was almost clean. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she had wolfed down her food.  She smiled at the pair, “You two are such good friends.” She was jealous she didn’t have any friends she was this close with, or any friends at all for that matter, “How long have you two known each other for?” she inquired.  
  
Hunk and Lance looked at each other, “We meet when you first got to the Garrison, what was that two, three, years ago?” Hunk said trying to remember dates.  
  
“Like three and a half,” Lance corrected. “We met on my first day in Arus. I was super nervous, afraid the Garrison wouldn’t accept me and turn me away. I ended up in your Mom’s tavern where you made me the best chicken with wild rice in this amazing mushroom sauce,” Lance said, bringing his hands to his lips, almost salivating thinking back to that day and the food.  
  
“I can’t believe you remember what I cooked you,” Hunk said, surprised by his friend’s memory.  
  
“Well duh, it calmed me down enough to head to the Garrison. And I hope you know your fried meatballs and roasted zucchini made me score in the top five percentile on my entrance exams!” He exclaimed, shoving a full piece of bacon into his mouth.  
  
“My cooking had nothing to do with it, that was all you,” Hunk said sternly, pointing his fork at Lance before the boy could argue, “ and don’t you dare try to argue with your mouth full.” Lance pouted but did what he was asked and continued chewing. They all did, and soon enough the plates were clear and their bellies full. Again taking charge, Hunk dictated, “Lance you clean the dishes, Keith you dry. Katie and I will finish packing up so we can head out. You can find a towel in Lance’s ……..pack…..” The three turned their heads to what Hunk was looking at.  
  
The towel Hunk spoke of was laying on the ground, next to the overturned backpack and the rest of its contents. “MY STUFF!” Lance yelled. “What?? Did a raccoon get into my bag or something?!” He looked around at the others for answers. Eyes redirected themselves to the small girl trying to make herself look smaller.  
  
“Ummm...that was me….sorry Lance.” She said as she looked up at him in apology, “Hunk said you had a mirror and brush and my hair was a disaster,” She continued by way of explanation, nervously rubbing her hands.  
  
At the sound of a hair disaster, Lance’s composer was restored, “I totally get that. Who hasn’t panicked due to a hair emergency, right?”  
  
She sighed in relief that he wasn't upset with her, “I’ll go clean it up!” She said, rushing to bag to begin organizing it.  
  
Lance went about retrieving the dirty dishes. He lifted a plate into the air surrounding it with water. It floated there suspended in the air while he moved his hands around the water orb, applying more or less water pressure to certain spots removing any food residue. When he was done, he reached in, pulling the plate out handing it to Keith next to him, who dried it with the towel he found on the ground. There was only dirt on a small section of it so he avoided that part while drying. Lance let the water orb fall to the ground with any food particles creating a new orb for each plate, fork, and cooking pan.   
  
Soon enough everything was packed away and they were ready to leave. Hunk and Lance had their respective backpacks strapped to their back. Lance was the first to speak. “So what's the game plan?” he asked.   
  
“I’m going back to the corruption.” Keith began. “I want to see if there are any clues about Shiro or the Holts’ disappearance,” he stated firmly, looking to Katie who nodded in agreement.  
  
Lance tilted his head at Hunk, stating with a shrug, “At least it’s daytime.”  
  
~~~  
  
They made it back to the site from the previous night.  The overpowering stench of rot and decay forced the four humans to cover their mouths and noses with their hands. The corpses dripped black ooze instead of blood, the flesh was detached from the bone, slowing melting away. If they weren’t the ones to cause the deaths hours ago, they would have thought these wolves died weeks prior from the decomposition.   
  
It was much easier to see the corrupted area now that the sun was out. The trees were pitch black in color. When Keith touched the bark with his gloved hand it came away with a thin sticky mucus. Hunk knelt down, inspecting the dark purple, almost black soil. Grabbing a handful, it fell through his fingers like sand. The bark on a tree was torn and peeled forward, reminding Lance of a banana the way the skin easily peeled off. He peered inside, seeing chalky white ash where wood should be. Any leaves that fell to the ground crumbled and disintegrated under Katie’s step.   
  
“So this place is horrible,” Hunk whispered, his trembling voice breaking the silence, “What exactly are we looking for? Cause I’d like to find it and get out of here as soon as we can.” He looked at his companions for an answer.  
  
Keith turned from the tree and spoke through the hand still covering his mouth, “Anything that will give us a hint as to what really happened here a year ago.”   
  
“Didn’t void stuff happen? Cause that's what it seems like to me,” Hunk asked, still not as familiar as he wished he could be with the void.  
  
“Yes, Hunk. Void,” Katie made air quotes with one hand at that word, “stuff did happen. We want to know what happened to the people that were sent here to investigate. My brother and father supposedly died here, along with Keith’s brother.”  
  
“Oh,” the big man’s face dropped, now knowing the real reason they were out here. “Not to be a downer, but how do you know they didn’t die?” his voice lowered, knowing what it was like to lose a loved one.  
  
“No corpse,” Keith answered flatly still looking around the area.  
  
Hunk’s line of questions had led him to stop his search, “Look how fast those wolves bodies are decaying, couldn’t that have……” he trailed off not wanting to continue his sentence, gripping his shirt at his aching heart.  
  
“They only decay that fast because they were corrupted,” it was Lance’s turn to speak up. He squatted next to the wolves poking it with a decayed stick. “Void rifts spit out nasty buggers called voidlings, aside from being a real pain to deal with, they can corrupt animals.” His stick snapped, causing him to make a sound annoyance before continuing, “That's what happened to these wolves here. The voidlings turned them into shadow fiends.” He stood, turning to the alpha wolf, “But I’ve never seen a shadow fiend that big. What about you Keithy, any ideas?”   
Keith’s hand was still covering his face, but that didn’t stop him from cringing at the nickname, “No,” he growled.  
  
Getting a rise out of Keith always brightened Lance’s day, “Let's ignore mama wolfie over here for a second, voidlings can only take over and corrupt smaller animals. Us humans are too big, so instead, they just try to kill us.”   
  
“But now we know it’s possible for bigger animals to be affected,” Katie added. “Could it be possible they were all turned into shadow fiends?” She was back in scientific mode, separating herself from her emotions, listing only details and hypothesizes.   
  
“And then what, they all decided to murder each other before the Garrison troops arrived?” Keith killed her theory.  
  
“Well, what did the mission failure report say?” Lance asked, “I’m sure you two have it committed to memory, it’s been a year since I last read it.” He felt a pang of guilt as soon as those words left his mouth. Lance wasn't close to any of the missing team members, so he, like most students at the Garrison, read the report once and moved on.  
  
“Killed by voidlings,” Katie spat like venom, “That's what it said, and the exact words Iverson used to bullshit me yesterday morning.” Her knuckles were turning white from her tightly gripped fists.  
  
“Voidlings means bodies,” Hunk was starting to understand, “But no bodies were accounted for?” he questioned. Katie, Keith, and even Lance shook their heads in response. “So it wasn’t voidlings. Which means the Garrison is lying. And if they are lying that means they are hiding something.”  
  
Keith took one last long look around the area, “We should go.” He clenched his free hand into a fist frustrated with himself for thinking his trip out to the forest would yield him the truth about Shiro’s disappearance. Instead, he was faced with the hard reality about the Garrison. The establishment he dedicated himself to for the past three and a half years was lying to him. “It’s been a year. Any evidence there once was has either been lost in time or destroyed by the Garrison,” he said, looking to his companions, “We’re not going to find anything more here.” Taking the lead once more, the boy headed out of this death zone.  
  
Lance quickly got up and followed after Keith, leaving just Hunk and Katie. Not wanting to leave the young girl alone, Hunk waited for her to follow suit. He watched her small body tremble, not knowing this was the second time in twenty-four hours she was presented with hope, nor the second time it was snatched away as quickly as it had come. He could not have known about her many arguments with Commander Iverson of the Garrison about her family, nor the fights she had with her mother and their now strained relationship. He couldn’t know the silent vow she made then and there: she was done crying, done being a child. She would learn the truth; she would bring back her brother and father, alive or dead. What Hunk did know, however,  was the look in her eyes: the look of pure determination.   
  
She stormed off after Keith, quickly catching sight of him talking to Lance up ahead. “You better not be giving up!” she hollered at him. The boys stopped and turned to her. Lance looked horrified at her sudden outburst.   
  
Keith remained stoic, letting her come closer before speaking calmly, “I’m not giving up.” She stopped only a foot away from him before he continued, “Searching the corruption any further would just be a waste of time.”   
  
“So what now?” she demanded, eyes staring daggers.   
  
“We go the Garrison,” he grinned, waiting for someone to take his bait.   
  
Katie knew Keith had something else in mind. He wasn't one to give up and was acting much too calm. She eyed him for a moment longer before giving in and asking, “And do what?” She raised an eyebrow.  
  
“We break into their network and access ALL the Kerberos files,” Keith spoke so nonchalantly as if he was just asked what he ate for breakfast.  
  
“WHAT?!” Lance screeched into Keith’s ear, causing the boy to immediately pull his body away from the banshee-like scream. Keith covered his ear, hoping one day he would be able to hear out of it again.“You want US to break into the Garrison’s central network?!” Lance continued with wide eyes, “They’ll discharge us if we’re caught!” he shouted, panic-laced in his voice.  
  
Keith’s eyes narrowed at Lance, relinquishing his hand from his still ringing ear. His once calm voice was filled with frustration, “I want YOU,” he pointed to the boy, “to go back to the Garrison and not get involved.”  
  
The water mage mimicked Keith’s narrowed eyes, taking a step closer before growling, “I’ve been involved since the moment I was paired up with you.” He jabbed Keith’s chest with his finger before continuing, “Or have you forgotten all the time I’ve gotten punished because your dumbass decided to do something stupid?”  
  
“What?” Keith dropped his aggressive stance, his face was filled with confusion. ‘What was Lance talking about,’ he thought.  
  
“Yeah well, maybe if you spent more than ten minutes a week talking to me you would have known,” Lance said, not holding back any punches. Keith felt a pang of guilt at those words, his eyes drifted to the side.  It was too hard to continue looking at his partner as he spoke. “To build a stronger partnership they punish both Knight and Guardian if one screws up.” Lance’s voice soften, not filled with as much anger, “So if you get caught I’m fucked anyway, so I might as well help.”   
  
“It will be easier with more help,” Katie spoke up, siding with Lance while Keith remained stubbornly silent.  
  
With a sigh, Keith finally caved, “Fine, whatever. You two can help.” He crossed his arms, looking at the smug, cocky grin plastered across Lance’s face.  
  
“It’s going to take a while to get back,” all eyes turned to Hunk who had been quiet until now, “Let’s plan on our way back.” They all nodded in agreement, heading back to Arus.


	6. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Eary morning shenanigans were had. The group travels back to the void zone and realizes the Garrison knows more than they are letting on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my plan for weekly updates crashed and burned. I'm going to try for bi weekly updates? 
> 
> I had a really fun time writing this chapter, so hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Spoliers: Iverson is why we can't have nice things.

Hunk’s legs shook in the chair he sat in. His hands tapped against his knees. He swallowed hard, looking around the office for the tenth time, hoping it would calm him. To his right were three metal chairs with cushioned seats and backs, like the one he sat in.

A dark brown carpet covered the floor and along the right wall stood three tall file cabinets. Across the room was a desk where an older woman sat. His mother told him it was rude to assume a woman’s age, but he was guessing in her late fifties. She told Hunk her name when he entered, but his nerves had caused him to forget. Her dark brown hair was up in a tight bun and her glasses rested on her nose. The ends of the glasses had a strap that wrapped behind her neck.

 

She wore a dark gray skirt and blouse, similar in color to Keith and Lance’s uniform. He assumed it must be the standard uniform for her as well. Her desk was simple, phone, cup for pens, a lamp and the computer she was currently working on. When she saw him look at her she gave Hunk a warm smile speaking, “He’ll be right with you, hun.”

 

Nerves were getting the best of him, all he could do was nod and force a smile. He closed his eyes, taking heavy breaths, ‘You’re not doing anything wrong,’ he told himself. ‘All you are doing is getting information about joining the Garrison. Even if you have no interest in joining and this is just a distraction.’ But before he could delve further into that thought he heard a voice in his ear. “I'm in," Katie said, "Garrison guards didn't even look twice."

 

After they had gotten back to town, Katie took them to her home. She gave them each a small earpiece she took from her father’s lab to keep in contact with each other. “Good timing, I'm just finishing up here,” Lance’s voice came through the com.

 

“You had an hour, how are you just finishing up now?” Keith spat, annoyed. It was Lance's idea they take an hour to shower and clean up before they initiated their plan. Keith coming back with scrapes and bruises was the norm, but people would raise an eyebrow to the rest of them.

 

“Because I'm not a dirty heathen like you! I actually care about -- shit!” Lance hissed.

 

Katie's worried voice spoke no louder than a whisper, “Lance, what's wrong?”

 

“Hey, Luca! How's my amazing roommate doing? I'd love to stay and chat but I got something I need to do. Cya later!” Lance burbled out.

 

A second voice could faintly be heard through his Lance's mic, “Dude, what's the rush? You were gone all night. I can't wait to hear about how your forest adventures with Hank went!”

 

“It's Hunk,” Lance corrected, “and I really should be going. We can chat later.”

 

“What's the rush? Let's get some food and hang,” Luca’s voice was louder and less faded, he must be right next to Lance at this point.

 

“LANCE,” Keith hissed.

 

Hunk remembered Lance talking to him about his roommate Luca. He was also a water mage from the Baku Islands like Lance, so they bonded instantly. But he also remembers Lance saying how nosy Luca was. Lance loved to talk, so it was nice having someone to listen, but apparently, Luca was very pushy for details and did not take no for an answer. Now seemed to be one of those times.

 

“Food sounds great,” Lance continued, sounding pretty nervous, “But I gotta take a rain check. I saw this really cute girl downstairs and I don't want to lose my chances or anything, you know.”

 

“Do you need a wing-man or---” Luca suggested.

 

“NO! No, I'm good thanks man cya later!” a loud slam and a large sigh later Lance spoke in a serious tone, “All good, heading down now.”

 

“Your roommate seems like a dick,” Keith said, a bit calmer knowing that they could continue on with their plan.

 

“Why, because he likes to socialize? Or because he actually enjoys talking to me?” Lance's voice was lower now that he was in the halls of the dormitory, but still full of annoyance. The others listening knew his last comment was a jab at Keith.

 

Hunk was so caught up in Lance's drama he didn't hear the woman's voice calling his name the first time or the second. Only after she touched his shoulder and he jumped a mile off his seat was he brought back to the small office. The woman smiled at him, “It's okay dear, Headmaster Kaltenecker is ready to see you.”

 

“Oh thank you, I mean. THANK YOU, MA'AM,” Hunk raised his voice, "I'M GOING TO GO HEAD TO THE HEADMASTER’S OFFICE NOW.” Hunk stood, taking very stiff movements towards the door behind the woman's desk.

 

“Hunk!” Katie scolded, “We can hear you fine, you don't need to yell.”

 

“Sorry,” Hunk now whispered, not sure if it was even loud enough to hear. A few more stiff robotic steps later, he stood at the to the door. He paused, reminding himself to breathe before opening it and entering.

 

The first thing he saw upon entering was an older gentleman sitting at a desk in the center of the room. The older man stood, walking around his desk to meet Hunk. Reaching out his hand for a handshake. The man was tall, a little shorter than Hunk, and looked like he was in his seventies. He had light skin and a bald head, but his bushy gray mustache made up for that. He wore Garrison gray pants and jacket, adorned with metals and pins. Hunk had no idea what they meant. “Hello, my name is Mitch Kaltenecker. I am the headmaster around here and it's wonderful to meet you,” he spoke while shaking Hunk's hand. “Please sit down,” he offered his other hand to the chair in front of his desk. “I hear you are interested in joining the Garrison’s engineering department. I'd love to hear more,” he concluded, motioning for Hunk to begin.

 

***

 

Katie sat on a bench in the Garrison courtyard. She changed into a flared black dress with white flowers embroidered on the bottom.  It was one of her nicer dresses. Her long brown hair was still damp from the shower, pulled back into a low ponytail and tied off with a black ribbon. Her hands gripped at her knees, taking long, deep breaths. 'This needs to work,' she thought. One mistake, and they would all be barred from the Garrison. Any hope of finding her family would be lost. Eyes closed, taking in the sounds of birds and ambient noises, she tried to calm herself. She didn't hear the sounds of footsteps approaching or the sounds of someone sitting next to her. Only when she heard a soft voice speaking, “Hey,” did she snap out of her mind. Eyes now opened as she turned towards the voice.

 

She was greeted with brilliant ocean eyes, a dazzling smile, and sultry voice, “I'm sorry I think there is something wrong with my eyes, I can't keep them off of you.”

 

Before Katie had time to react she heard the cackling laugh of Keith in their ears, “Holy shit, Lance. That was terrible.”

 

The ocean eyes were now a raging ocean storm. Lance's upper lips twitched as he tried to hold a smile. His voice now like venom, “And how many ladies has that rat nest you call a mullet gotten you?”

 

This was derailing fast. Katie did her best to let out a convincing giggle, redirecting Lance’s attention to her. “I don't think there is anything wrong with your eyes. I think they're lovely.” She smiled fluttering her eyes one too many times at him.

 

Like a switch being flipped, Lance was beaming at her, grin too big for his face, “Do you have a name or should I call you mine?”

 

A snort filled the coms, Keith trying his best not to distract them again. Katie secretly agreed, doing her best to hold her smile and not break character her voice was shy, “Katie. You can call me Katie. And your name?”

 

“The name’s Lance,” he reached out, grabbing her hand. Slowly lifting it to his lips, leaving a light kiss, and with a slight grin, he met her eyes, not releasing his gentle grip.

 

Her face flared a bright red at his actions. “Ummm…” she was at a total loss for words. Her other hand gripping at her dress. Katie would never admit to anyone the weird goofy water mage she met in the forest had her flustered. No, that she will take to the grave with her.

 

“I haven't seen you around here,” he spoke again, now with a flirtatious tone, “How about I give you a tour.” Lance stood, her hand still in his as he guided her off the bench and next to him. “I'm a high rank so I can give you ‘all access’,” he wiggled his eyebrows at that statement.

 

Her tomato face and fluster was gone, replaced with a twitching eye. Katie squeezed Lance’s hand extra hard, reminding him to watch it, “I'd love that.” She smiled, as a light whimper came from the boy. He got the hint.

 

Lance escorted Katie around the garden grounds, hand in hand. He pretended this was her first time here, explaining details she already knew. In turn, she pretended to be interested, nodding when appropriate. Cadets would occasionally eye them, but not give them a second glance. Katie thought she heard a girl say they look cute together. She sighed in relief, thankful the ruse was working.

 

Even though Keith was a quiet guy, he remained abnormally quiet in their ear the whole time. While Hunk was busy talking with the headmaster about Laplace transforms. And Lance continued guiding Katie around, his voice drifting in and out. She thought back to a few hours ago when they were still in the forest.

 

Katie knew she could hack the Garrison’s computer systems. She could get the classified information on the Kerberos mission. The issue was their closed network, and limited access points even while inside the Garrison. Katie needed to access to one of these points, but she knew she would be watched and denied access on her own. Keith immediately volunteered, but was instantly shot down by Lance, “Oh yeah, you two walking around together wouldn't be suspicious at all.” They agreed Lance would be the one to escort her, but it took an hour of discussing to finally figure out how to make them look inconspicuous.

 

Hunk was initially joking when he spoke up, “Why not hit on her? That's not out of the ordinary for you.” Quickly the gears started spinning in everyone's head. They agreed Lance would flirt with Katie, then take her on a tour, ultimately ending up at the mission common room. It was a room filled with computers where cadets and graduates alike could access past and previous missions details. The reason they would enter the room was simple: Lance would gloat about his accomplishments and Katie, being so impressed would ask to see them. Originally Lance pouted, claiming that was not something he would do, but eventually agreed after being betrayed by both his knight and his best friend.

 

“Oh! Here is the common room!” Lance’s voice brought her back to the present. “How would you like to see all my amazing feats?” he asked, his flirty voice back in full force.

 

“Oh, I'd love too!” Katie put as much enthusiasm as she could into those words.

 

“Well you can start by looking down,” he said, winking and wiggling his feet. It was painfully obvious to her why Lance was still single. Katie should have gotten an award for acting for forcing out a loud laugh and smiling. “Let's go cutie,” he said, and lead her into the room by their still linked hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Keith at the end of the hall. His hand covered his face in shame, embarrassed for her.

 

Keith and Hunk’s jobs were simple, keep Headmaster Kaltenecker and Commander Iverson distracted. If there were going to be caught it would be from them. The headmaster spends most of his time doing office work. But he had a habit of roaming the halls to mingle with students when he needed a break from his desk.

 

Normally any applicant would fill out a form and participate in a standard interview with a teacher. Hunk was not normal, his extensive knowledge of mechanics got him a private interview for admission with the Headmaster himself.

 

Iverson never remained stationary for long. His sole pleasure in life was to make everyone else's life miserable. Not relying on teachers or cadets to report trouble around his halls, he looked for it himself. Keith was on Iverson duty, keeping a lookout for him near the common room and distracting him if necessary.

 

Lance sat Katie down at a computer in the back of the room. Today was a day off from classes so most cadets were off relaxing. Only a few people were in the room and the closest person was still two rows and five computers away. “You are going to be speechless when you see the missions I've been involved in,” Lance said. He entered a string of numbers and letters into the user ID prompt and password. A couple of mouse clicks later and the “official” mission details of the Kerberos mission were on the screen. “This was the first mission I went on," Lance continued with their cover. "Voidlings were sighted at a lake near here."

 

“Oh, that sounds scary!” Katie exclaimed, hating herself for the obvious facade. “Can I take a look?” She sat with her legs together, hands on her lap, as her mother taught her. Except one of her legs was bouncing feverishly.

 

“Of course you can sweetheart,” Lance replied, passing her the mouse and angling the keyboard towards her. As soon as her fingers hit the keys she was off, typing word after word, strings of code appearing in a blink of an eye. She threw a glance at the speechless boy next to her. His mouth was slightly agape, but he met her stare and formed the biggest ear to ear smile she had ever seen. A slight blush dusted her cheeks. She grinned with pride.

 

“That was a good mission,” Lance spoke, still acting like they were looking at his missions. “My Knight partner got the bright idea to try to hogtie a wild boar! I had to valiantly save him before he was impaled on its tusks,” Katie actually laughed at that. She couldn't tell what was true in his stories and what he was making up on the spot. She made a mental note to ask Keith later.

 

Things were going pretty smoothly, the guy two rows ahead and five computers down did shift his attention to them at one point, but Lance gave him a grin, winking as he shot his finger guns. The cadet rolled his eyes and looked away as Lance rested his arm around Katie’s shoulders.

 

A few more keystrokes and the screen flashed blue. Sitting in the center of the screen was a window labeled 'Classification level Zeta'. It was filled with folders.  Katie hovered her mouse over the one reading Kerberos. “Got it,” she spoke, beaming with pride.

 

“Shit,” Keith cursed.

 

“No Keith, ‘got it’ mean good,” Lance explained quietly, “Katie is a fucking genius and got in.” He hovered too close to the screen causing Katie to swat him away. She inserted a small device into the computer.

 

“Iverson is heading your way!” Keith spoke panicked.

 

Katie and Lance stared at each other, eyes wide in fear. “I only need a couple more minutes,” Katie went back to the computer typing faster than before, not caring about the noise it made.

 

“What do I do?” Keith sounded confused and still very much panicked.

 

“Distract him, Keith!” Lance hissed through his teeth, losing his composer.

 

“How?!”

 

“Well you have two options, you can talk to him like a normal human. Or punch him in the eye like the maniac you are.” Lance was joking about the second option. Keith knew Lance was joking about the second option. Lance knew Keith knew he was joking about the second option. Yet they both knew it was still a fifty-fifty on what path Keith take. Lance held his breath and closed his eyes expecting to hear yells and a scuffle outside the room. He went as far as muttering the begins of a prayer, "Oh great water spirit Baku."

 

“Errr…..Commander Iverson...Sir…” Keith barely got the words out of his mouth. Iverson grunted loud enough for Katie and Lance to hear. He must have started walking away because Keith yelped, “Wait!” There was silence.

 

“Kogane?” Iverson asked.

 

“I….ummm...wanted to- needed to- umm…” Keith stuttered out the words. “Talk?”

 

“Alright, go on,” Keith had Iverson’s attention, “What did you need to talk about?” At this point, Lance imagined Keith's face resembling a small puppy that was just taken away from his mother.

 

“What did I? Oh um….” Again Keith barely got the words out.

 

Keith needed help, desperately. Katie was busy getting information as fast as she could, Hunk was still distracting Kaltenecker, and then there was Lance. It was important to keep Iverson occupied as long as possible, but this was also a very rare occasion. The look of worry on Lance’s face was replaced with a devilish smirk, “Ask him if he thinks your pants make your butt look big!”

 

Without thinking, Keith hissed out, “Lance!”

 

“Oh, your Guardian?” Iverson said thinking Keith was talking to him.

 

“Yes!” Keith went with it, not having much of a choice. Lance started laughing to the point he needed to cover his mouth with his hands to muffle the noises.

 

Iverson let out a sign, “ I knew it was a mistake to pair him up with you.”

 

Lance stopped his laughing. Keith let out a confused, “What?”

 

“To be honest, it was Kaltenecker’s idea,” Iverson continued. “He thought you two would compliment each other's strengths. But the only strengths I’ve ever seen from that boy is covering up his mistakes.” Keith was speechless, what was Iverson talking about. “His job is to support and protect you from harm. Not let you get hurt and then cover it up with his magic.” Lance wrapped his arms around himself, closing his eyes, not being able to do anything but listen to Iverson belittle him. “Keith, you were born to do something great, and you can’t do that if you are being held back. I’ll make the arrangements to find you a more suitable partner.”

 

Lance didn’t realize he was shaking until he felt a hand on his knee. He opened his eyes to see Katie looking at him. She squeezed his knee, smiling at him, “I’m finished, I got what we needed.” It wasn't much but it was all Katie could think to do, well besides blowing their cover to rip Iverson a new one.

 

The water mage gave a nod and weakly spoke, feigning confidence, “You hear that mullet?”

 

“No!” Keith yelled, startling Katie and Lance.

 

“What?” And apparently Iverson as well.

 

“You’re wrong,” his voice seethed with anger, “You know nothing about him, or about how strong he is. So you can take your arrangement and shove it up your--”

 

“Keith!” Lance yelled, not caring about the attention he was drawing to himself.

 

The angry boy took a deep breath, speaking as calmly as he could muster, “I don’t need a new Guardian. And next time you feel the need to insult one of your students, don’t do it in front of his partner. Good day Commander,” He spat, storming off.

 

“You okay?” Katie asked Lance.

 

“What? Yeah, I’m totally fine,” Lance forced a smile, not realizing the slight tremor in his body. “Let's wait a minute for Iverson to pass by. Okay?”

 

“Okay,” she continued rubbing his knee in comfort. They sat together listening to Keith’s angry mumbles and Hunk finishing up his “interview”. Soon enough, Lance gave a nod that he was ready. This time, Katie was the one to take his hand. She led him out of the room into the hallway. Eyes were staring at them and whispers could be heard. Katie gave his hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance. They continued the rest of the way in silence, through the Garrison, through the town, and to the front of Katie’s home.

 

Keith was leaning against the house with his arms and legs crossed, his head tilted downward obscuring his face while Hunk sat in front of the door, poking his pointer fingers together. They looked up, hearing the approaching pair. Katie finally let go of Lance’s hand to reach for the doorknob. “Mom won't be home till later tonight,” she said and opened the door, inviting them in.

 

Hunk followed her inside, Lance doing the same but was stopped by a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?” Keith asked softly.

 

Lance didn't want to look at him, too afraid of what his face would give away. Instead, he forced a grin, relaxed his face and body, just like he taught himself years ago. “I'm fine. Let's go see what Katie found,” he pulled away from Keith’s grip, quickening his step into the house.

 

Keith stood outside the house, alone, collecting his thoughts, “If Lance says he’s okay I shouldn’t worry about him. I need to stay focused on Shiro. Time to see what the Garrison has been hiding.” He took a deep breath before entering the Holt’s residence.


	7. Pidge Gunderson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Keith, Katie, Lance, and Hunk break into the Garison's network for more information on the Kerboros mission. After a close call with Iverson, they make their way back to Katie's house to find out what the Garrison is hiding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gave me such road block. I hated how the first scene was headed so I made a change, and really like the new direction. I also learned I'm much better at writing happy, fluffy scenes than angry, angst moments. 
> 
> Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!

Katie sat at a round table in the middle of her kitchen, setting up her laptop computer. Hunk sat to her left, Lance on her right, and Keith stood behind her, hovering over her shoulders. She reached into the pocket of her dress (especially wearing this dress for that reason), pulling out a small flash drive. “Hunk!” she yelled. The man in question had the computer lifted off the table, turned it on its side, examining it.   
  
“What?” Hunk asked, continuing to tilt the computer side to side.  
  
“Put that down!” she roared. With a pout, Hunk slowly lowered the computer back to the table. Katie inserted the drive, quickly typing away until she noticed the top half slowly closing. “HUNK!” she yelled again.  
  
Hunk flinched at Katie’s booming voice. “Sorry,” he apologized retreating his hands back to his body. His fingers tapping against each other as he spoke quietly, “Arus doesn’t have this kind of technology.”  
  
Violet eyes glare at the sheepish man. “Play with the damn thing later!” Keith growled. Lance quickly raised his hands to Keith’s chest.  
  
“Keeeeiiith…” Lance spoke softly, elongating the name, “It’s fine. Waiting another minute won’t make a difference.” Keith huffed but didn't say anymore. Hunk kept his hands to himself long enough for Katie to open the file folder labeled ‘Kerberos’.   
  
Katie looked up to meet Keith's eyes. “This is it,” she said, “Let’s see what they were hiding.” Her eyes surveyed the screen before she continued, “It’s a bunch of documents and a sound file.”  
  
“Open the sound file,” Keith ordered, “It will have communications between the team and the Garrison.” Katie nodded, following instructions and opening it.   
  
Static, lots of static, then a voice spoke, “Captain Shirogane, report.” It was Iverson-.   
  
“We’re close to the rift. The corruption has spread further than normal,” Shiro’s voice echoed through the computer’s speakers. Keith gasped, eyes widening, causing three pairs of eyes to fixate on him. His mind and body were hit with wave after wave of emotions: joy, despair, hope, fear. It had been so long since he’d heard Shiro’s voice. He felt his chest tighten, but was pulled back to reality when Shiro continued, “The rift is just past…..….” His voice stopped. There was just silence.  
  
“Captain Shirogane!” Iverson exclaimed, raising his voice.  
  
“There are people,” it was hard to tell if Shiro was asking a question or stating a fact, “There are three people. They are wearing robes and a mask. What are they are doing to the tear?” Keith leaned closer to the computer in anticipation.   
  
“What are they doing?” repeated Iverson, more urgently.  
  
“They’re gone. They just disappeared,” Shiro paused assessing the situation. “Samuel, Matthew, close the tear,” he ordered. Now it was Katie’s turn to be in shock at the mention of her family. “Everyone else circle aroun-” his commands were cut off by a non-human screech.  
  
“Sir!” a male voice called, he had to be right next to Shiro for the audio to pick him up. “Voidlings coming from the east and…..what is that?!”   
  
Again the screech rang out, louder this time. Shiro bellowed more orders, “Miller! Conner! Protect the Holts! Selene, with me! Everyone else focus on the voidlings! I’ll take care of that big one!”  
  
“Shirogane, report!” Iverson yelled. The only response were grunts, screams, and the sounds of battle. Lance and Hunk followed Keith’s example, leaning closer to the screen. Katie averted her eyes, gripping the arm of her chair and biting her lower lip.  
  
“Uwwwwwoooooooggggg,” that terrifying screech pierced through the speakers. All of them jumped back at the sudden sound, realizing that for the noise to be this clear it had to be right on top of Shiro.  
  
Iverson’s panicked voice cut in again, “SHIROGANE FALL BACK! THIS IS AN ORDER! Johnson get a team ready to dispatch!” He was yelling orders to someone at the Garrison.  
  
Shiro didn’t respond. They could still hear his grunts, the sound of metal, the screeches from what Shiro was fighting. And then they heard it.  
 “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” Shiro screamed in pain, followed by abrupt silence. The audio file ended.  
  
“NOOOO!!” Keith screamed, lunging at the computer, gripping it on either side. “WHAT HAPPENED!? WHY DID IT STOP!?” His mind was racing at a mile a second trying to process what he just heard. ‘What happened to Shiro? Was he hurt? Was he killed? No, he can’t be dead.’   
  
His train of thought was broken when he heard a shaky voice speak his name, “Keith.” Keith released his grip on the machine, whipping his body to the source of the voice, ready to release his anger. He opened his mouth to unleash his fury, pausing when he saw enormous confused blue eyes staring back at him. “I don’t- What was-” Lance tried to speak, his mind only allowing fragments to escape. “That thing….” He trailed off. Lance’s arms were tightly wrapped around himself, his body gave a slight tremble to match his voice. In the nine months Keith spent paired up with Lance, never once had he seen the boy this shaken up.  
  
“That wasn’t normal was it?” This time it was Hunk’s voice that pulled Keith’s attention. Hunk’s head tilted down, obscuring his face. “Those things just kill. How could anyone survive,” Hunk was mumbling to himself. Seeing Lance and Hunk so shaken up had dissipated some of Keith’s anger, replacing it with concern. Finally, he looked at Katie. Her knuckles were white, fists clenched so hard her fingernails were digging into her skin. Brown eyes bore into the screen, eyebrows furrowed, lip in a snarl.  
  
“NO!” Katie yelled, gaining the attention of the others. “This isn't over! That's not the end!” Her hand flew to the mouse. “There are other documents, one of them has to have something!” She closed the ended audio file, scanning the rest of the contents of the folder. All that was left was documents, all were similarly named. A. Conner, S. Einhart, M. Holt, S.Holt, T. Shirogane. Realization dawned on her, these were just files on the crew. Katie opened the file named ‘M. Holt’ a picture of a boy with similar brown eyes and short brown hair smiled back at her. Her eyes began to water after seeing the picture of her brother, quickly she skimmed through the file.  
  
Name: Holt, Matthew  
Age: 24  
Sex: Male  
Residence: Arus (Formally Balto)  
Occupation: Researcher  
Status: MIA (Presume dead)  
  
Katie knew all that, scrolling down she read about his accomplishments in voidling research. How he was the youngest researcher to received an award for...blah, blah, blah, she knew all that too. Reaching the end of his file she realized there was nothing, nothing useful in the entire document. Her hands slipped into her hair, gripping hard.  
  
Hunk, seeing her distress offered, “Maybe another file will have something useful.” He tried to offer a reassuring smile, but it was a fraction of its normal size. Katie released the grip from her hair and slid her hand back to the mouse. She clicked back to the main folder, maybe Hunk was right.   
  
“No,” Keith spoke, defeated. “That doesn’t make sense to only update some files and not all of them.” He was right, and no one tried to argued his statement. The room fell silent.  
  
“How many people were on this mission again?” Lance asked, breaking the silence. “4 Guardians, 4 Knights, and 2 scientist right? Ten people?” He raised his fingers as he spoke.  
  
‘Yeah,” Keith answered with none of the normal annoyance Lance usually brought out.  
  
“So why are there thirteen files?” Lance asked. Katie and Keith’s heads quickly turned back to the screen, one, two, three…...ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. Lance was right, why were there thirteen files when only ten were sent on this mission. “Like who is,” Lance said as he squinted and looked closer, “P. Erickson? His name doesn’t ring any bells.”  
  
Before Keith could say, “Open it” Katie had the file open full screen. There was no photo, just a box with a question mark in the center. That must have been the default placeholder.  
  
Name: Erickson, Peter  
Age: 43  
Sex: Male  
Residence: Cyreen  
Occupation: Hunter  
Status: MIA (Presume dead)  
  
Peter Erickson was a hunter from the nearby town of Cyreen. Married to Sandra Erickson. Eldest daughter, Sarah Erickson. Eldest son, Rhyle Erickson. Frequented the Kerberos forest for game. Disappeared three weeks prior to Kerberos.  
  
See other (M. Wimmer, F. Ward)  
  
Marcus Wimmer and Ferdinand Ward had similar profiles. Wimmer was another hunter while Ward was an herbalist. All the men were from the neighboring town of Cyreen and all were last seen in the Kerberos forest.   
  
“What does this mean?” Hunk asked, confused. He regained his composure, looking at his comrades.   
  
“It means we are going to Cyreen,” Katie said, speaking with the same determination Keith had seen in the forest, “These people are connected somehow.” She closed the laptop and stood, turning to face the others she spoke again, “Thank you for your help everyone. But-” She closed her mouth, trying to find the right words to say.   
  
“I'm coming with you,” Keith said with an eyebrow raised, arms crossed, and a slight smirk.   
  
Katie smiled, glad Keith knew what she was thinking. Her eyes shifting between Lance and Hunk. “Umm..” she started to speak.   
  
“Nope, no, no, no,” Lance said, pushing himself off the chair to stand, and waving his hands in front of him. “We’re not doing this again. I'm coming,” he looked at Keith who was about to protest, “Shut it.” Lance pointed to the boy, narrowing his eyes. Keith closed his mouth and let out a sigh without a single word. Katie let out a giggle and turned to Hunk with a smile.   
  
Hunk nervously met her eyes, “I want you to find your family, but I don't know if I can go with you.” His nervous habit of tapping his point fingers together took over.   
  
Still smiling, Katie took his hand and spoke, “It's fine Hunk. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have gotten this far. I might not even be alive right now. You've done more than enough to help me. I understand if you can’t come.”  
  
Hunk relaxed his tense body, smiling softly back at her, “I didn't say no. I just need to think about it, okay?”   
  
“Okay,” she replied.   
  
Lance placed both hands behind his head and asked, “When do you wanna head out?”  
  
“Tomorrow,” Katie and Keith answered simultaneously. Lance raised an eyebrow at the response. Keith continued, “Let's leave by six am. Meet at the west gate.” He looked at Katie for reassurance, she nodded, agreeing with his plan.  
  
“Alright,” Lance spoke, “I should go get stuff together then.” He dropped his arms to his side and stared Keith directly in his eyes. “Wait for me,” he pleaded, “I’m sick of always having to catch up to you.”  
  
Keith turned his head away, averting his eyes. “We’re leaving at six with or without you.”  
  
“Fine by me,” Lance said turning towards the door. He lifted a hand, giving a wave, “Cya tomorrow.”   
  
“Lance, wait!” Hunk called, getting up from the chair and hurrying after him, “I’ll go with you. We can plan what you should bring, and what lie you should tell Luca.”  
  
At the sound of his roommate's name, Lance’s body slumped forward, arms falling limply to his side, head dropping to his chest. “Aaaaagggggg,” Lance let out a groan. “I forgot about him. He’s gonna wanna know about Kerberos and my date.” He covered his face with his hands groaning again into them. “Hey, Katie?” Lance pulled his face from his hands, looking over his shoulder at the girl. She gave him her attention as he spoke again, this time with a grin, “If he asks what kind of vegetable you are, is it okay to tell him you’re a CUTE-cumber?” He wiggled his eyebrow, face still holding that giant, stupid grin.  
  
“Oh my god! Get out Lance!” she screeched, pointing to the door. There was no anger or malice in her voice. Lance laughed as he jogged out of the kitchen, presumably to the front door. Hunk followed after him, shaking his head and mumbling, “You’re the worst” before he was out of sight too.  
  
Katie was left alone with Keith. She noticed a small smile on his face before he looked at her and it disappeared, his face returning to a normal stoic-Keith look. Katie smirked at him. “Don’t think I didn’t see that,” she said.  
  
“See what?” Keith asked, tilting his head, his arms now folded across his chest.  
  
“That smile,” she prodded him further, leaning towards him.  
  
“What?!” Keith gasped, stumbling back a step. “There was no- I wasn’t- Let just figure out tomorrow alright. You know that thing that involves your family.” It was a low blow, but he knew mentioning her family would make her change the subject.  
  
Her face looked as if she was just slapped. The playful smirk and bright eyes gone. “I know Keith,” she raised her voice. “Cyreen is a three days travel. By the end of the week, everything should be back to normal.” She let out a large sigh, covering half her face in her hand, elbow resting in her other hand. “Fuck,” she said again. “I’m so sick of this dumb breadcrumb trail. The fake reports, the void zone, the garrison, now Cyreen. I just want this to be over.”  
  
Keith stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” his voice was soothing. She looked up at him. He could see the dark circles beginning to form under her eyes. “We’re going to find everyone. I won’t stop until we get answers,” he assured.   
  
“Thanks,” she whispered through a small smile. Eyes closed, she leaned forward, pressing her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, though his body was still rigid and stiff. “You still suck at hugs,” she mumbled into his chest. Keith’s body loosened as he laughed, pulling her a little tighter with his arms. “Mmmmm. That's a little better,” she said, pulling away, “I guess I can teach you.”   
  
“Whatever,” Keith laughed before continuing, “Hey, serious for a moment.” Katie gave him her full attention. His laughing stopped, serious Keith was back. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to go.”  
  
“What!?” Katie yelled before he could explain himself. Serious Keith was back and so was furious Katie.  
  
He quickly held up his hands in front of him in surrender, “Let me finish.” Her fiery eyes calmed a little, but her fists were still clenched, body trembling in anger. She waiting for him to speak again, “Matthew Holt and Samuel Holt are in danger. If Katie Holt shows up she could be in danger too. So...” He stopped making sure she allowed his explanation to conclude, “You should probably disguise yourself.”  
  
Katie was visibly taken aback by that comment. Her hostility all gone, replaced with confusion. “Oh. I guess that makes sense,” she trailed off, still a bit thrown off.  
  
“Not to mention it wouldn’t look good if the Garrison saw Katie Holt investigating again. Make a fake alias and try to hide your appearance.  
  
She nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, Keith.”  
  
Keith smiled back at her, “I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Katie nodded again and watched him leave the room. She heard the front door open and then close. She was alone.  
  
***  
  
The sun was just starting to set as Lance and Hunk left the house. They were walking side by side in silence. Lance was winking and giving finger guns to just about every pretty face he passed. “Hey Lance,” Hunk spoke up, looking at his friend.  
  
“What’s up, Buddy?” Lance asked, still focusing on a young woman with short black hair purchasing some fruit.  
  
“Let's go back to my place, okay?” Hunk said, more quietly than normal.  
  
Lance turned away from the woman to face Hunk, tilting his head to the side. “Sure. You okay?” he asked, concerned.  
  
“Yeah,” was all Hunk said, turning away to face forward. Lance let his arms drop to his side,  nudging his shoulder into Hunk’s. The bigger man tilted his head up again to see a bright smile and an unspoken understanding. Hunk had a lot on his mind he needed to process before he spoke with his best friend. Lance knew Hunk long enough to know not to ask questions and let Hunk talk when he was ready. For the rest of the walk, Lance didn’t turn to any pretty face or enchanting voice. Instead, he stole sporadic glances at his friend.  
  
They made their way to a large wooden house with a peaked, wooden roof. A sign hung above the door stating ‘The Griffin’s Claw. Best food around. We Garrett-tee it.’ The sign always brought a smile to Lance’s face. It was made by Hunk’s father. They entered the building; it was a Tavern. People sat around tables that covered the room. To the side was a bar where an older woman with long red hair was cleaning some glasses. She looked up as the two entered, giving a warm smile.   
  
They approached the bar, avoiding patrons heading back to their seats. The woman spoke when they reached the bar, “Good evening Hunk! Lance, always a pleasure.”  
  
Hunk hid the thoughts bothering him, and addressed the woman, “Hello, Mrs. Tsuyoshi.”  
  
“Hey, Mrs. Tsu!” Lance bellowed. “How is the most beautiful and stunning barmaid in all of Arus?” He grinned, lifting one lip as high as his face would allow in an over exaggerated smirk. His eyebrows lifted almost as high in a comedic fashion.   
  
Mrs. Tsuyoshi burst out in laughter, speaking once her fit was finished, “Oh Lance. You do know this is the ONLY tavern in Arus, making me the ONLY barmaid.”  
  
“Doesn’t make my statement any less true,” Lance clarified, his face returning to normal.  
  
“You always do know how to make someone laugh.”  
  
“That's what I’m here for!” he said proudly, pointing his thumb at his chest.  
  
Hunk finally spoke up again, “Do you know where my mom is?”   
  
She placed a now clean and dry glass down, replacing it with another. Tilting her head to the door next to the end of the bar, she answered, “She’s in the kitchen. Is everything alright, hun?”  
  
“Yeah, just had a long day, you know?” Hunk said, hoping she didn’t ask any further questions.  
  
“Go get some rest then. We can handle the dinner crowd without you.” She said and gave him a reassuring smile.  
  
“Thanks,” Hunk smiled back, dragging his body toward the door.   
  
She watched him walked a few feet away before turning and addressing Lance, “Take care of him. He’s a good kid.”  
  
“Of course! Hunk is the literally the best. I’ll always be there for him,” Lance’s voice was filled with love and compassion. “I’ll catch you later, cya Mrs. Tsu!” He waved goodbye to her and jogged to catch up to Hunk. She called “Goodbye!” after him.  
  
Just as Lance caught up to Hunk, the bigger man was pushing open the door to the kitchen. Inside, his mother stood over a table, holding a mixing bowl in her arms, whisking the contents with her free hand. She looked up at the sound of the door opening but did not stop her whisking. “Good evening, Baby!” she exclaimed.  
  
Hunk’s face turned beet red. Even after being referred to as her ‘baby’ in front of Lance countless times, he still felt the need to cover his face in embarrassment. “Mom, please don’t call me that in front of other people,” he groaned into his hands.  
  
“Oh hush, you will always be my baby,” she scolded.  
  
“Hey, Mom!” Lance yelled ecstatically, rushing towards her. He wrapped his lanky arms around her and the mixing bowl. Hunk lowered his hands from his face, watching Lance bear hug his mother. With a smile, he rolled his eyes at the sight. He loved how accepting and loving his mother was to his best friend.  
  
“Oh Lance,” she yelped. “Let me put this down first.” Hunk’s mother was able to free one arm from the hug, placed the bowl on the table, and then give Lance a proper hug. “And how are you doing sweetie?”  
  
With a big smile, Lance opened his mouth to answer, but only Hunk’s voice was heard, “He’s doing fine mom, but we have things we need to do.” He started making his way to the staircase leading to the second floor. Mrs. Garrett laughed at the sudden pout Lance made from Hunk’s statement. Hunk was halfway up the stairs when he called, “Let's go, Lance!”  
  
Lance let out an over-exaggerated sigh, releasing Hunk’s mother from his hug. “Coming buddy!” he yelled, dropped his arms to his side. “Bye mom, I’ll see you later!” He once again jogged after Hunk.   
  
“Bye Lance! Make sure to say goodbye before you leave!” She called after him. Lance threw up a thumbs up before he was out of sight on the second floor. Hunk’s room was two doors down on the right-hand side. Lance had practically lived in this tavern since arriving in Arus, so navigating it was child’s play.   
  
Lance waltzed into the bedroom and immediately made for the bed. He took off his boots and sat cross-legged, looking at Hunk’s back across the room. Hunk was fiddling with some mechanical thingy or what's it, Lance had probably been told the name of at some point. The next few minutes were again filled with silence. Hunk let out an unusually loud sigh; that was Lance’s cue. Whenever Hunk had a lot on his mind he would shut everyone out while he processed everything. Then, when he was ready he’d let out a loud sigh. Lance could never figure out if it was a subconscious thing or not, but he never questioned it, because it worked. “What’s on your mind?” Lance asked.  
  
Hunk sat on his floor, back still to Lance when he spoke, “Tomorrow.” Lance waited again for Hunk to collect his thoughts into words. “I can help you pack, and I’ll see what food I can give you for the trip.”  
  
This wasn’t what Hunk was mulling over in his head for the past hour, but Lance played along. “That would be great! Thanks, buddy,” Lance said.  
  
“Maybe I can walk to you to the outpost,” Hunk trailed off.   
  
“Thanks, big guy, but you’ve been plenty of help so far. You don’t need to come with.” As soon as the words escaped Lance’s mouth, Hunk jerked his body around. His eyes were bloodshot; his face beet red.  
  
“Neither do you!!” Hunk yelled.  
  
“Hunk,” Lance spoke softly. “Yes, I do.”  
  
“Why!?” Hunk pulled on his hair. “This doesn’t have to do with you!”  
  
“No, but it has to do with Keith. I don’t want him getting hurt or worse…”  
  
“AND I DON’T WANT YOU GETTING HURT!!” Hunk screamed, losing all control over his emotions, “I already lost one person I care about to those damn shadows. I can't lose another.” Tears started pouring down Hunk’s face. He turned back around, sobbing into his hands.  
  
Lance flew off the bed, wrapping his arms around his friend, “Hunk. What happened to your father wasn’t your fault.”  
  
Hunk tired speaking between sobs, “But I should have been there. Maybe I could have done something.”   
  
“If you were picking up supplies with your father that day, the only thing you would have done was get yourself killed,” Lance’s harsh words caused the sobs to stop, “I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s true.”   
  
“It’s not fair,” Hunk’s voice cracked.  
  
“I know it’s not. But that's exactly why I joined the Garrison: to protect everyone from the Void. I won’t sit back and watch as more lives are taken, and that includes the lives of Katie and Keith,” Lance said solemnly. Hunk shifted away, letting Lance know to release him. Lance sat back on his heels. Hunk wiped away his tears and regained his composure.  
  
Hunk finally turned his whole body to face Lance as he spoke, “You’re right. I’m sorry, Lance.” Lance shook his head but allowed Hunk to continue, “You’re right about everything. I can’t just sit around and hope everyone comes back safely. I’m going with you!”  
  
This was not how Lance though the conversation was headed. He jerked his head back, mouth slightly agape. “What? You want to COME with ME?” Lance was trying to comprehend what just transpired. Don’t misunderstand, Lance was ecstatic to have his best friend with him, but would have liked to know how that happened.  
  
“Yeah! Let’s protect our friends together!” Hunk held out his hand to Lance.  
  
Blue eyes darted between the hand and Hunk’s face. Who cared how this transpired, Lance was going to travel with his best friend! “Oh yeah! No void monster is going to lay a finger or tendril or whatever on them!” Lance slapped his hand against Hunks, they both squeezed before Hunk pulled Lance into a great body crushing hug.  
  
“I love you, Lance.” Hunk nuzzled his face into Lance’s hair.  
  
“Love you too big guy. But I also love breathing,” Lance gasped.  
  
***  
  
Katie nervously paced the kitchen, rehearsing her speech in her head. She looked up at the clock, it had only been about twenty seconds since the last time she checked. “Okay, you can do this,” she told herself. “Just state facts right? No, that never works,” she groaned. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. “It’s now or never,” she said, taking a deep breath and centering herself. “Hey, Mom. Can we talk? I’m in the kitchen.”  
  
Colleen Holt entered the kitchen with two bags of groceries in her arms. “Sure Katie. Just help me put these away first,” she told her daughter. Katie followed instructions, taking a bag from her mother, placing it on the counter. She began placing the items in their correct spots. “What did you want to talk about?”  
  
Katie took one last deep breath and swallowed hard. “It’s about Matt and Dad,” she started. Her mother stopped what she was doing. Eyed her daughter cautiously, with an eyebrow raised. “I found more information. I think I can find them-”  
  
“NO!” Colleen shouted, slamming a large squash on the counter. “Do not do this again, Katie!” she roared.  
  
“But Mom!” Katie pleaded, taking a step closer to her mother.  
  
“Your Father and Brother are dead! Why can’t you accept that!?” Collen’s face was already red from anger and yelling.  
  
“No, they are not!” The two women continued to shout at each other. “There is information in Cyreen-”  
  
Again Katie was cut short by her mother, “You are not to go to that town!”  
  
“Mom!” Katie could feel her emotions started to boil over. Tears forming in the corner of her eyes.   
  
“Promise me you will go nowhere near that place. Katherine Holt swear to me you will not step one foot in that town!” Colleen stood tall, her hands firmly on her hips.   
  
“Mom you don’t understand-” Katie could feel a hot streak running down her cheek.  
  
“I understand that I will not lose you too! Now swear you will not go anywhere near that town!”  
  
The fight was gone from Katie; she knew there was no getting through to her mother. Defeated, she spoke, “I swear, Katherine Holt will not step foot in Cyreen.”  
  
“Thank you.” An eerie quiet filled the room, “Why don’t you go upstairs and wash up. I’ll have dinner ready shortly.” Like that, the fight was over and “normality” settled in.  
  
“I’m not hungry. I ate earlier,” she lied, rushing out of the kitchen and up the stairs as quickly as she could. Ignoring the calls from her mother. Her feet lead her into Matt’s room like they normally did when she is upset. It's was still the same as it was, except cleaner. A month after the incident, their mother still had trouble processing everything that transpired. She insisted on organizing and dusting his room, keeping it clean. It was three months later when Katie first noticed the dust building up on his dresser. That's when Colleen finally accepted the fate of her husband and son, and when she began snapping at Katie who still hadn't lost hope.   
  
Katie laid on Matt’s bed, closing her eyes. She wasn't just going to bring back her Father and Brother, she was going to bring back the caring mother that raised her, the inquisitive mother who taught her the differences between sylphs, fairies, and pixies, the trickster mother who helped her plot revenge against Matt when he dumped mud in her hair. She vowed to bring back the compassionate mother who taught her it's completely acceptable to have long hair and wear a dress, while you excavate the whole backyard in search of a giant moth larva....as long as you don't bring said dirt or larva in question into the house. That was a fun time. She was going to have her family back.   
  
It was a long day, and reminiscing about happier times calmed her enough to nod off.   
Ironically she was awoken by her mother calling into the room “good night”. Katie listened to her mother walk to her room and close the door. She hopped off the bed, prowling to the dresser, digging through until she found an old pair of shorts and a long sleeve shirt. Neatly re-folding the clothes she disturbed, she poked her head out of the room to make sure her mother’s door was still closed. Upon seeing it undisturbed, she crept to the bathroom, quietly closing the door. Without a sound, she opened the cabinet doors, taking out the pair of scissors that once gave her and Matt many haircuts.   
  
Katie remembered Keith’s words from earlier about an alias. ‘I have just the person,’ she thought to herself tying her hair into a ponytail. ‘Katherine Holt promised to stay home, where it’s safe.’ She opened the scissors and placed her hair between the blades. ‘But Pidge Gunderson is free to go anywhere.’   
  
Snip.


	8. Sandler's Outpost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> After obtaining the files from the Garrison, the crew learns there is a connection between the missing towns people of Cyreen and the missing Kerberos crew. They spend the rest of their day making preparation for travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay. I was and still not supper happy with this chapter which caused me to not want to write. Then I got sick for a week and editing was the last thing I wanted to do.
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith lay in bed, dark circles under his wide-awake eyes. He sat up, craning his head to look out the still dark window. ‘Probably be another hour or so before sunrise,’ he thought to himself, scrubbing his face with his hands. Due to a combination of anxiety and excitement, he had tossed and turned for what seemed like hours before he finally passed out. But then he dreamed the Garrison caught on to him, imprisoning him before he could find Shiro. He woke in a fit of sweat, only to repeat the process. In the next nightmare, Keith was able to travel to Cyreen and even found Shiro. Well, Shiro’s dead, burnt, unrecognizable body.

Knowing that sleep was a losing battle, he decided to get ready. He crawled out of bed, grabbing his things before heading to the shower. Cyreen was a three-day journey, who knows when he'll get a decent shower again. When he finished in the bathroom he dressed in a fresh garrison uniform, before making his bed. The bag he packed the night before was sitting next to the door. He grabbed it, looking around the room one final time. Realistically he should be back in a no more than two weeks, but something told him it would be longer. He took one last look at the room he shared with Shiro for over five years. “Goodbye,” he spoke in a low voice, leaving the room and closing the door tightly behind him.

No one was awake yet at the Garrison, which made it easy to traverse the halls. He headed out, past the guards that watch the entrance, and into Arus. The sky was still dark as he walked through the quiet town. The only noise was the sound of running water. Keith followed the sounds that lead him to the fountain in the center of town.

Sitting at the edge of the fountain, he looked at the large stone Griffin. The body, hind legs, and tail of a lion, with the head, wings and front claws of an eagle. Griffins hadn’t been seen in centuries. Some believe they went extinct; others speculated they just moved to a location free of humans. At the foot of the statue was a plaque that read:

This statue is in honor of the great spirit of the sky, Daibazaal. Represented as a black griffin, Daibazaal is said to be the leader, or head, of the five great spirits.

Keith sat there for a long time, eyes closed, listening to the sounds of water as it poured from the statue’s beak. A few merchants were setting up their stalls, preparing for another day of work. The sweet aroma of freshly baked bread broke Keith from his trance, his stomach and feet working together to lead him to the source of the smell.

An older gentleman, wearing an apron and oven mitts, held a tray of freshly, just out of the oven, bread roll. Steam was still rising from the rolls. Keith’s eyes widened, his mouth open slightly. “Excuse me, sir,” Keith spoke politely, “Can I have a roll with butter?”

“Coming right up,” the jolly man spoke, looking up to see his customer. He eyed Keith up and down, noticing the uniform he wore. “You're from the Garrison?” he asked curiously.

“Yes, sir,” Keith replied with a nod, reaching into his pocket for his money. “How much will that be?” he asked.

“For you?” the man thought for a moment, “nothing.” He smiled, reaching for a roll and a knife.

Keith's hand froze in his pocket, he tilted his head studying the man. “Excuse me?” Keith asked confused, looking at the man as he cut and buttered the roll.

“You heard me,” the man said smiling. He closed the still streaming roll and held it to Keith. “It's people like you who keep my family safe. How can I charge you?”

Keith’s eyes widened at the man’s kindness, and the melted butter dripping down the side. “Thank you,” he said, taking the roll.

The baker shook his head, “No, it's me who should be thanking you. How about some coffee to go with that?!” he bellowed. Not waiting for a response, he grabbed a cup and headed for the thermos filled with coffee.

Feeling guilty for not having paid, Keith stuttered, “No, that's okay.”

“Nonsense!” the baker said and held a nearly full cup of coffee in his hand. “How do you take it?”

This was a losing battle. Keith felt like he was losing a lot of battles lately. He sighed and spoke, “Black, please.” The man raised an eyebrow. He probably thought Keith didn't want to take any more than he was given. “No really. I take my coffee black,” Keith reassured the man.

With a nod, the man filed the cup the rest of the way, put a lid on it, and handed it to Keith. “You be careful and stay safe, you hear me son?” he said.

Keith stared at him in shock. The free food and coffee was one thing, but the genuinely kind words were another. He had no idea the proper response, so he just tilted his head down to hide behind his long bangs. Mumbling a ‘Thank you,’ he turned, taking a bite of his roll and continuing to the west gate.

He only got a mear ten paces away before he heard the man call to him, “Hey wait!” Keith looked up, the roll hanging out of his mouth. The man looked around as if seeing if he was being watched. He must have been in the clear because he proceed to grab a paper bag and stuff a handful of rolls into it. Running around his stand, he handed the bag to Keith. With a great smile, he spoke, “For your friends.” Roll still hanging from his mouth, Keith nodded his head a few times. As he took the bag, the baker spoke again but in a hushed whisper, “Just don't tell my wife.” The man gave Keith a great smack on his back before retreating back to his stand.

Coffee in one hand, the bag of rolls in the other, and a buttered roll falling out of his mouth, Keith was a mess. He shoved the bag under his arm and took the roll from his mouth. “Thank you!” he called to the man, and with a great big smile, he headed out of the market.

When Keith arrived at the west gate, he could see the skyline was a shade lighter. The sun would be rising soon and they would be off. He dropped the bag of rolls and his backpack on the ground and sat down next to it, leaning against the wall. Since he still had time to kill before the others showed up, he opened his bag and took out the book laying on top. He affectionately stroked the cover, smiling as he read the title, Patience Yields Focus: A Guide to Meditation and Breathing. Written by: Yuuto Shirogane. Shiro gave him this book a number of years ago. This Yuuto Shirogane has no relation to Shiro except sharing the same last name. But still, Shiro insisted it was his pen name and he wrote the book on patience. The distant memory had Keith laughing to himself, ‘He was such a dork,’ he thought, flipping through the yellowed pages.

Keith kept his face in the book until the sun began to rise and a figure stood over him, casting a shadow across him and the book. His eyes shifted to the figure, a young boy maybe? Short brown hair, eyeglasses too big for their face, amber brown eyes. “Wow. You really took what I said to heart,” Keith smiled. “Does this new persona have a new name?”

“Pidge,” she answered adjusting her glasses. “You been here long?” Pidge asked, placing her backpack on the ground and sitting across from Keith.

He shrugged, “I couldn’t sleep.”

It was almost time to leave, so he packed the book away in his bag. “You hungry?” he asked, tossing her the bag of not so hot, but still fresh rolls.

“What this?” She peered into the bag. He could see the moment her nose caught the aroma, her giant gleaming eyes fixated on the rolls. She grabbed two and stuffed them in her mouth saying “Ohmygoomm. Soogoomm.”

The sight was too much, Keith laughed. “Remember to breathe,” he reminded her. Closing his eyes and laying back against the stone gate wall. He listened as Kaite- no, Pidge finished her breakfast. And the sounds of her spitting out a liquid and groaning in disgust.

“Ewwww, did you forget the sugar and milk?” She must have found his coffee.

Still relaxing against the wall he grinned as he spoke, “I like my coffee black. Tastes even better when it wards off grabby hands.”

“Whatever,” he heard her groan.

They sat together, bathing in the sunlight for another few minutes. When Keith opened his eyes he saw Pidge’s leg twitching, and she was quickly rubbing her arm. “You nervous?” he asked.

Her fidgeting stopped when she heard his voice. “No,” she answered, “Well yes, but…. It’s past six.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed. They told Lance yesterday to meet at the gate at six am, or they would leave without him. ‘Was he running late? Did he decided not to come last minute or shit, was he caught?’ these thoughts ran through Keith’s head. “Let's give him another couple of minutes.”

Pidge nodded. She turned her attention to the bag sitting next to her. “If he’s not here in five minutes I’m eating the rest of these,” she stated.

Four and a half minutes later, they heard footsteps heading straight towards them. Keith and Pidge looked up to see Lance racing towards them, with Hunk trailing behind.

“There! They didn’t leave without us!” They could hear Lance yelling, “Hurry up Hunk!” So much for leaving on time and non discreetly, as they only five other people awake and in the area were staring at them. Keith and Pidge grabbed their things as they stood, waiting for Lance and Hunk to get to them.

When Lance reached the pair he was out of breath, hunched over with his hands on his knees. “Sorry we’re late,” Lance apologized, “Hunk took about a half hour to say goodbye to his mom.” Lance glared at his friend who had just approached.

“Sorry,” Hunk also apologized, out of breath. Seeing Hunk brought a smile to Pidge’s face. She knew this had nothing to do with Hunk, and he had nothing to gain by coming. So she assumed he would stay in Arus. They really hit it off the other night in the forest and she was hoping they could be better friends.

Lance straightened himself out, looking around, his eyes landed on Pidge. He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips at her. He turned his attention to Keith, “Great, we ran all the way here and Katie’s not even here yet!” He threw his arms into the air.

“Um...Lance,” Hunk tried to get his friend’s attention.

“And who is that?!” Lance threw a thumb at Pidge.

Keith looked dumbfounded. At a loss for words, he turned to Pidge and asked, “You wanna handle that one?”

Pidge sighed, adjusting her glasses while she spoke, “Lance, it’s me.”

Lance turned to the voice, looking her over once more. Like a light switch was flipped, he jumped back in surprise, eyes like huge like saucers, screeching, “WHAT!?” leaving his mouth hanging open.

“Shut up you idiot! Are you trying to bring attention to us!?” Keith snapped. But Lance either didn’t hear him or was still in shock.

Hunk approached her, nodding. “It’s a nice look. Guess you don’t want to go by Katie anymore huh?”

She shook her head, “It’s Pidge now.”

“Nice to meet you, Pidge,” Hunk held out his hand. “I’m Hunk.” She laughed as they shook hands like they were meeting for the first time.

“But, but,” Lance was still sputtering. “What happened to your beautiful hair!” he wailed. His hands were hovering around where her long hair used to hang.

Keith had enough, he flung his bag over his shoulder and grabbed Lance by the collar. “Let's go,” he started dragging the boy with him through the gate and out of town. Pidge and Hunk followed after.

They walked for a mile before Lance finished mourning the loss of Katie’s hair and accepted the disaster that sat on Pidge’s head. Throughout the mile, he insisted it was Keith’s fault, and she should never take hair advice from someone who sports a mullet. Keith would periodically check behind them to make sure no one was following them or that Lance’s loud theatrics didn’t draw any unwanted attention.

“Soooooo, Pidge?” Lance asked.

“Yeah?” she answered, not stopping her pace or looking at him.

“Where did you get that name from?” She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He held up his hands in surrender and added, “I’m not implying it's bad. It’s just different.”

She grinned. “Well because the name Lance was taken.” Hunk snorted at her answer.

“Girl, you know this world can never have too many Lances,” he put his suave voice back on.

Keith who was in front of them laughed and said, “You’re an idiot.”

“This idiot made you laugh, so what does that say about you?” Lance retorted. The playful banter was a nice change, as opposed to when they are ready to tear each other’s heads off. “Getting back to the question at hand. Why Pidge?”

“It was a nickname Matt gave me,” she spoke fondly at the mention of her brother’s name.

“Awwww,” Hunk cooed. “That adorable. I can’t wait to see you two together.”

“Me neither,” Pidge sighed.

 

***

 

It took just under twelve hours before they reached the outpost, stopping for lunch and snacks that Hunk packed and every two hours to rest and catch their breath. They encountered a few groups of people heading for Arus. No one looked twice at their group, instead of giving a friendly wave and greeting, without stopping.

The outpost consisted of a small house that doubled as a trading post for supplies, a small barn that housed three horses, with room for three more, and a large one-story wooden building that resembled a small barn made from many different types of wood, giving it a patchwork effect. In the center were small groups of travelers and merchants, chatting over a cooking fire. Some were sitting on tree stumps, someone sat on a poor attempt at making a chair from a stump, but the majority stood.

Hunk spoke first, “That spots free,” said, and pointed to a similar set up with seven stumps around an unprepared cooking fire. “I don't know about the rest of you, but I could really go for dinner!” They nodded in agreement, heading to the vacant space. Hunk dug through his bag, pulling out an assortment of dried meats and bread, handing out small portions to everyone. They all took out their canteens, enjoying their meal.

“Hunk, how is every food you touch a thousand times better than normal food?” Pidge asked, rubbing her stomach.

Hunk chuckled, answering, “Thanks Pidge, but anyone can cook. I'm nothing special.”

“Nope!” Lance hollered, making an x with his arms. “Both of those statements are incorrect. You are amazing, and wonderful, and marvelous, and incred-”

“Okay, Lance I get it,” Hunk said, chuckling to himself.

“And as far as that ‘anyone can cook’ statement. Have you met this?” Lance said, holding out his hands, gesturing to Keith.

Keith silently laughed and looked at Hunk, saying, “Lance, has a point. Have you met me?”

Hunk shook his head, “Oh, come on. I'm sure Keith is a fine chef. Maybe he just needs some pointers.”

Lance raised an eyebrow and eyed Keith. The raven-haired boy covered his face with hands, knowing exactly what was coming. “Keef here,” Lance swung his arm around Keith's shoulders as he spoke. “is the reason I can never eat chicken again. He burnt the poor bird to a crisp, but somehow forgot to cook the inside.” Keith ignored yet another nickname to groan into his hands, while Lance continued. “Let me tell you, raw chicken is gross. He gave the group of us food poisoning. We were so sick we couldn't make it back to the Garrison! They ended up sending a search party thinking something went wrong with the mission.”

Pidge roared with laughter, clutching her stomach. Her body was rocking so much from laughter she lost her balance and fell off the stump.

Hunk, being the kind soul that he was, tried his best to keep his reaction neutral, but upon seeing Pidge hit the ground, lost it too. “Wow Keith, that's really bad,” Hunk chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye, “That actually explains a lot.” He looked at Lance. “I couldn't figure out why you suddenly avoided eating anything I made with chicken.”

Lance’s arm was still draped across Keith, shaking him as he spoke, “Yeah, you can thank Keith for that.”

“Okay,” Keith said, lifting his face from his hands and removing Lance's arm. “We established I’m not allowed to cook. Are you all finished yet?”

Pidge’s laughter finally subsided, though she still sported a huge grin on her face. “I guess I’m good for now. It’s still kind of early, but I’m beat. Where do we want to camp for the night?” She asked.

Hunk pointed to the big building saying, “I’d like to make camp in there, and by camp I mean use a bed.”

Keith shook his head as he spoke, “Beds are nice, but we just started our journey. We don’t want to spend any unnecessary money that we don’t have too.”

“How does free sound?” Hunk asked with a grin. “This isn’t just any outpost, it’s Sandler’s Outpost!” He exclaimed, arms in the air. Three blank faces looked back at him as if they were supposed to know what he was talking about.

“Ummmm….who is Sandler? And why is his outpost free?” Keith asked confused. He looked to Pidge and Lance for a clue, but they both shrugged.

“Really guys?!” Hunk scolded, placing his arms on his hips. “Everyone from Arus knows about Sandler’s outpost!”

Lance raised his hand, “I’m from the Baku islands, remember?”

“My family moved to Arus a couple years ago,” Pidge said. “We used to live in a city called Balto, it’s in the Olkarion region.”

Everyone looked at Keith for his excuse. Keith had an annoyance to his voice as he spoke, “Hunk, none of us know about this outpost, so just tell us.”

Hunk’s face deflated “Geez, you guys are no fun,” Hunk pouted. “This outpost dates back to my great-grandfather. Back in that day, this was just a single trading post that saw many travelers. As you know Arus lies to the east, the west has Cyreen and other smaller towns. But if you keep heading west you hit Daibazaal. And then the south leads you to Olkarion region. So yeah, this was a frequently traveled spot. Then one day an Olkari merchant that made friends with Sandler said,” Hunk changed his voice for effect, “ ‘I see you so often, you should build me a room to stay in’. In response, Sandler said, ‘Friend, I have enough land to share. If you want to build yourself a place to stay, who am I to tell you no.’ The following weeks an abundance of wooden logs, and building supplies from the Olkarion started to show up. The next time the merchant returned, Sandler asked him, ‘What is all this friend?’. And the man replied ‘It’s supplies for my room!’ And that ‘room’ is that big house over there. Over the years others added onto it, expanding it for more travelers. The owners of the trading post have nothing to do with it, it’s fully taken care of by the travelers who use it. The motto here is ‘A Kindness for a Kindness’, so if you see someone who needs help, help them and they will pass it on.”

“Wow! That's so cool!” Pidge yelled, throwing her hands in the air. “We stayed at a lot of places during the move, so I don’t really remember staying here.”

Lance looked to the barn, “I guess a traveler needed a place for their horses and build that, huh?”

Hunk nodded. “Yup! So you all ready to head in?” Everyone agreed, packing their things and entering the patchwork building.

Inside was one giant room, along the walls were triple bunk beds and the center held different sized tables. It was a warm environment, people were scattered amongst the building chatting. The group headed to a less crowded area, claiming beds in a corner, where they were less likely to be seen. Pidge flung her body onto the bed, landing stomach first. She let out a long moan, then said, “Oh this feels so good. My feet are killing me from today.”

Keith sat on the bed next to her, placing his bag on the ground. “Better get used to it, we still have another two days before we get to Cyreen,” Keith reminded her. He was met with a groan from the girl.

Lance stood between the beds, placing his bag on the ground and stretching his back. “It’s too early to turn in,” he spoke, “I’m going to wander around for a bit longer. Anyone wanna come with?” he asked looking to the other males.

“Sure, I’ll join you!” Hunk said, raising his hand like a preschooler. Keith just shook his head and laid back on the bed, arms behind his head. “Keith, you mind watching Lance and my stuff while we’re out?”

“Sure, just remember to not draw too much attention to yourself,” Keith answered, his eyes were now closed.

“Cool! Cya all later! Let's go, Hunk!” Lance yelled, running out of the building and not allowing Hunk any time to catch up.

“Wait up man!” Hunk called after him. By the time Hunk reached Lance at the door, the water mage was sporting a devious grin. “Oh no,” Hunk spoke recognized that grin. “I know that look. It means no good, mainly for me. What are you planning?”

Lance wrapped his arm around Hunk’s shoulder and lead him out the door. “Hunk, Hunk, Hunk. How can you say such a thing?” He spoke in as charming a voice as he could muster. Hunk wasn’t buying it, deadpanning a look at Lance. “Oh fine.” Lance threw his arm off his friend. “Since the stick in the mud stayed inside I figured we could have a little fun.”

Hunk narrowed his eyes, carefully eyeing Lance. “Your definition of fun and mine don’t always mean the same thing.”

Lance wrapped his hand around Hunk to smoosh their faces together. With his other hand, he gestured an arc in front of them saying, “Ladies!”

Hunk let out a sigh, saying, “I don’t know why I expected any different from you.” Lance responded with a smile and headed off around the area. Hunk begrudgingly followed after, hanging out with your romance-obsessed best friend was still better than sitting inside doing nothing.

The outpost was not very large, so by the tenth time circling it and the third rejection, Hunk finally called the endeavor over, dragging a disheartened Lance back to the building. Pidge was long passed out, limbs all over the bed like a starfish. Keith was still awake, sitting on the bed in thought. He snapped out of his thinking as soon as the two approached, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Hunk literally dragging a pouting Lance by his collar.

“Please don’t ask,” Hunk pleaded. “I think we’re both ready for bed. Right, Lance?” Lance responded with only a grunt. Keith couldn’t help but chuckle. Knowing Lance he probably deserved whatever put him in that mood. “Hey, Keith?” Hunk was tapping his pointer fingers together. “So I don’t do well with top bunks, and I don’t want to be too spread out…”

“Not a problem Hunk, I can sleep above Pidge,” Keith said, getting off the bed. He grabbed his pack and Pidge’s, swinging onto his new bed. “Make sure to give your bag to Lance. It will be much harder for anyone to try to steal it from the second bunk.” Hunk nodded, grabbing his bag to do as he was told.

Lance must have stolen a sheet from an adjacent bed because he was using one to cover the human starfish. When he finished he mimicked Keith, swinging the packs onto his bunk before settling in. “Goodnight guys,” Hunk yawned.

“Good night buddy. Goodnight Keith.”

“.........night.”


	9. Cyreen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> The gang said goodbye to Arus and made their way to Cyreen. They made a stop at a nearby outpost before continuing their journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the longest one yet! I didn't want to divide it up, because I felt last chapter was just filler. Since it's the weekend and I have about a paragraph written for next chapter, assume the following week I'll post chapter 10. 50DKP to those who catch the terrible Hearthstone reference in this chapter.
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

Morning came faster than anyone would have liked. Keith, as usual, was the first one awake. He reached under his pillow, pulling out his sheathed dagger and ran his fingers along it, stopping when he reached the strange symbol embedded on it. He wished he knew what it meant, but he never felt comfortable showing it to anyone, not even Shiro. Sure, it wasn’t a secret he had a dagger, he carried it strapped to the back of his belt for everyone to see, but the symbol and the fact he could channel his magic through it was. During his second-year advance weapons class, he asked the instructor a vague question about magic usage on weapons. After the instructor got over the fact Keith actually spoke, he thought it was a wonderful hypothetical idea but could not expand further. Keith strapped the dagger back to his belt and wrapped it back around his person.

 

It wasn’t much longer until Hunk woke up. He greeted Keith with a “Good morning”, before suggesting Keith wake up their companions while Hunk started on breakfast. Keith waited until Hunk was out the door before launching a pillow at Lance’s face.

 

A yelp escaped the startled boy, followed by Lance crying, “What the heck Mullet!?”

 

“Time to get a move on,” Keith grinned, climbing off the bed and peering into the one below his. Pidge had retracted her limbs, looking peaceful as she slept. He gave her a couple shoves and spoke at his normal volume, “Pidge, gotta get up.” She made a small noise in protest but opened her eyes.

 

He could hear Lance mumbling from his bed, “Sure, wake her like a normal human being.”

 

“Hunk?” Pidge asked groggily. She rubbed her eyes, reaching for her glasses she previously placed next to the pillow.

 

“I thought you didn’t use glasses?” Keith asked, still hovering over her.

 

“Oh, it’s you, Keith. You sounded like Hunk for a second. And no I don’t need glasses, these are an old pair of Matt’s. I just replaced the lenses with glass.” She tapped the lenses while she spoke.

 

Lance pushed himself off the bed, landing next to Keith. He ran a hand through his hair and spoke, “I’m assuming Hunk is making breakfast. I’ll go see if he needs a hand.” Lance knocked his shoulder into Keith’s before leaving, causing Keith to shoot him a glare.

 

“What did you do to piss him off this early?” Pidge asked, cleaning her glasses with her shirt.

 

Keith side eyed her, and with a smirk and responded, “I might have woke him with a pillow to the face.”

 

“Really? What happened to that smile from my house two days ago?”

 

“No, idea what you’re talking about.” Keith turned his back to her.

 

She let out a sigh. “Yes, you do. I thought you two were making progress with that whole, ‘let's be friends thing’.” Keith didn’t respond. “Let’s go eat,” she said, hopping out of bed and tugging at his jacket.

 

When they got outside they saw Hunk and Lance at the same spot they had dinner last night, but there were three others with them. Lance was chatting, scratch that, flirting with a blonde girl that looked to be about his age. Hunk sat next to a man a few years older than them, and next to him was another girl whose age was somewhere in between. The sounds of them approaching caught Hunk’s attention. He waved them over saying, “Over here guys!” Everyone stopped their conversations to watch Keith and Pidge walk over. “This is Sylar, Rachel,” They waved as Hunk introduced the man and woman next to him. “And their younger sister, Becca.” Hunk gestured to the girl next to Lance.

 

“HI!!! It’s so nice to meet you!” Becca spoke in a bubbly voice, waving and giggling. Keith and Pidge eyed each other, seeing as one of the only two free seats were next to the airheaded girl.

 

Hunk continued, “I hope you don’t mind me inviting them for breakfast.”

 

‘I do mind,’ Keith thought, but instead said, “Not a problem.” He and Pidge subtly raced for the seat not next Becca, Pidge cursing Keith’s long legs under her breath. As soon as Pidge took her seat she was met with wide eyes. “Wow, these glasses are so big! Does that mean you’re blind?” Becca asked. Pidge stared at the girl, trying to figure out if that was a joke or- no, the look on her face said she was dead serious about the question.

 

Pidge took a deep breath and on exhale spoke softly, “Yes, sadly I was born blind and these glasses are the only way I can see.”

 

Becca gasped holding her hands to her mouth. “You poor little boy,” she spoke. Keith had to be listening because Pidge heard him snorting behind her. Over Becca’s shoulders, she could see Lance hiding his face in his hands.

 

“Time for some grub!” Hunk cheered, passing out the food.

 

After breakfast, they said their goodbyes and head back to the road. Lance was making sure he was further ahead of everyone else. “Hey, Lance! What’s the rush?” Keith called, smirking.

 

“Yeah,” Pidge agreed. “What if this fast pace causes me to trip and lose my glasses?”

 

“Shut up!” Lance yelled, spinning on his feet to face the two, “Just because she wasn’t the smartest doesn’t take away from her being a nice beautiful young woman!”

 

Hunk spoke up, “Don’t be bullies you two. Lance is right, Becca was a sweet young lady.”

 

They dropped the conversation and continued their journey. At some point, Lance slowed his pace to meet the others. The road curved into a small wooded area and they decided to stop for lunch by a small stream. As usual, Hunk distributed the food while Pidge collected water from the stream and, poured it into a pot Keith held. Using his magic, Keith created a fire under the pot, making the water boil faster. Once they were satisfied any bacteria in the water was dead, Lance used his magic to add his water to the mix, cooling it down. And finally, now that the water was cool enough,  Lance dismissed his water and Pidge poured the remainder into their canteens.

 

“Hey Lance,” Pidge said while pouring the last of the water. “Since you can create water, can’t we just drink that instead of going through this process?”

 

“Sure, if you want to die of dehydration,” Lance answered. “I don’t create water, I conjure it. Very different.” Hunk handed out an assortment of more dried meats, dried fruits, and nuts. After tossing a handful of nuts in his mouth and swallowing Lance continued. “Conjured means it eventually disappears. So if you only drank water through magic, you would trick your body into believing you satisfied your thirst, but it would continuously disappear and cause you to drink more, yadda yadda until you’d die of thirst. Not pleasant.”

 

“Canteens it is!” Pidge said, shoving food into her mouth.

 

“Um….hey guys…” Hunk spoke up, digging through his pack. “So you know how I could only bring a limited amount of food...and how I gave some of that food away this morning?”

 

“”How much do we have left?” Keith asked, beating Hunk to the punch.

 

“Enough for maybe two more meals?” Hunk said and ducked his head down to meet his shoulders.

 

“That fine,” Keith said in a calm voice, “It was your food, who are we to say who you can and can’t share it with.”

 

Hunk had expected a different reaction. “So you’re not upset?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

Keith shook his head, before explaining “I have no right to be. Besides, Lance can hunt for food.”

 

Lance was nodding. “Yeah, Hunk. It was your food,” he agreed with Keith. “And I can--- Wait...Why am I hunting for food?!” he exclaimed.

 

“Because you have a bow genius. Did you expect me to start charging animals with my sword?” Keith said, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

 

“Oh….good point,” Lance mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, Though that would be a pretty entertaining image.

 

They continued on the man-made path for the rest of the afternoon. Once the silence became too much, Lance started weird conversations with Hunk. Pidge made the mistake of commenting on one topic, before being pulled into a full-blown ‘discussion’ about who would win in a race, a centaur or a unicorn.

 

“All I'm saying, Pidge,” Lance began, “is that unicorns are beautify, majestic creatures, and no nomadic, uncouth centaur would best it in a race!”

 

Pidge rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hands, pushing her glasses up her face. She remembered back to her long debates with Matt that used to keep them up till the early morning. Those had scientific merit, with facts and references. What she was doing with Lance was utter nonsense, totally ridiculously, and she was loving every moment of it. Pidge looked Lance straight in the eyes and spoke, “Lance, ‘beautiful’ and ‘majestic’ are opinions with no-”

 

Lance let out an overly dramatic gasp, causing Pidge to stop mid-sentence and roll her eyes. “You take that back!” he exclaimed, “It is a scientific FACT, that and I quote ‘Unicorns are the most beautiful and majestic of all the land animals’.” Lance crossed his arms and nodded in assurance.

 

A smile started to creep across Pidge’s face. She quickly suppressed it and went back to a neutral face. “And who exactly are you quoting?” she asked smugly.

 

“Dr. Anita Scientist!” he said with all the confidence in the world.

 

“Anita Scientist?” Pidge asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Yup, I need a scientist to help prove my point,” Lance answered with a huge grin.

 

Pidge busted out laughing, grabbing her sides. Lance joined her, laughing almost as hard. Hunk, who knew better than to join the conversation, smiled at his friends, shaking his head. “You two are are something else,” he said over their cackling.

 

Keith’s stern voice cut through the playful atmosphere, “Are you two finished?”

 

Lance stopped his laughter, turning to Keith with a playful smile still lining his face. “What's wrong captain grumpy pants? Too much fun for you?” Lance teased the boy.

 

Keith stopped his walk, causing the others to stop as well. His face was neutral, but he spoke with his usual annoyance when I came to Lance. “What's wrong, is I don't want us to lose our dinner because someone’s laughing can be heard for miles.”

 

Lance’s cheerful attitude quickly dropped, rolling his eyes at Keith. “Were you actually born without the ability to laugh?” Lance waited for a reaction from Keith, but the boy only crossed his arms. Lance rolled his eyes as he spoke, “Fine, what am I hunting?”

 

Without waiting for a response Lance summoned his soul weapon. Pidge, with her wide inquisitive eyes, inched as close as she could to Lance. These weapons, while not science-based, still intrigued her. She remembered back to the Kerberos forest when she first saw Keith summon his weapon. Lance shifted his left hand over his right, the back of his right hand glowing a light blue. Under his glove, the outline of an arcane rune shone.

 

In one quick motion, he arched his hand away. A long stream of water emerged from the rune, following his hand. It arced in the air, its form suddenly changing to a wooden longbow. He grasped it from the air, shifting his gaze to the wide-eyed girl beside him. “Is this going to be a constant occurrence?” he asked Pidge.

 

“Why does your soul weapon appear as water? Keith’s didn’t look like fire. And why isn’t it glowing? It glowed when you used it at the corruption. Is your rune different from Keith’s? Do they always put the rune on your right hand?” Pidge racked off question after question, not allowing Lance time to speak. She reached for his hand, wanting to examine his rune, but Lance quickly pulled his hand out of her reach.

 

“Calm yourself girly,” Lance said, taking a step away from Pidge who was right on top of him. “Um….I can channel magic into my bow to illuminate it in dark areas. Since it’s daytime I don’t need too. Yes, our runes are different since we use different weapons and different magic. I’m a righty and as an archer you hold the bow in your non-dominant hand. So for convenience the rune in on my right hand.” Lance pointed his thumb at Keith as he continued, “Keith is a lefty so once again, rune on his right hand.”

 

“Ambidextrous,” Keith corrected, “But I prefer my left hand over right.”

 

“That answer everything?” Lance asked trying to remember what else was asked.

 

“It looked like water when you summoned it,” Pidge reminded him.

 

Lancer opened his mouth to speak, but Keith beat him to it. “Lance likes to show off. Now can you please,” Keith sighed, pointing out to the field of grass. Lance’s eyes followed his finger until he saw what Keith was pointing too. He snapped his head back to Keith.

 

“Wait…..You don’t mean…..?” Lance questioned Keith.

 

“Yes, I do. Now can you please?” Keith repeated himself getting impatient.

 

“But, but,” Lance pleaded, turning to Hunk for support.

 

“Sorry man, Keith’s right,” Hunk said, shrugging. Pidge was Lance’s only hope, maybe she can convince them against this idea. Lance looked at the girl, pouting his lip. She just looked down at her feet, kicking the ground.

 

The archer was outnumbered. With a loud sigh he straightened his back, taking aim. “Sorry little bunnies,” he whispered, pulling back on the bowstring. A glowing blue arrow materialized, he released, pulling back a second and then third time. Three arrows flew forty feet, hitting three now lifeless rabbits. Lance dismissed his weapon, wrapping his arms around himself. He didn’t want to look at anyone, so he instead started at the ground. “I get that we eat meat, and someone has to be the one to kill the animal. It just doesn’t feel good to be that person.”

 

Hunk placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. “I know buddy. But thank you for doing that for us,” Hunk said, words filled with compassion and sincerity. Lance glanced up at him and couldn’t help smiling at his friend.

 

Pidge wrapped her arms around Lance, giving him a quick hug then stepping back. “Thank you, Lance,” she said, adjusting her glasses

 

“If we find anything slow enough, I can try to catch it,” Keith said, walking away from the group towards the kill.

 

They continued their journey to Cyreen. It was two hours past sunset when they finally decided to make camp.  Pidge and Lance set up the bedrolls and collected logs for the fire. After much complaining from Lance, Hunk was able to convince him it was fine to teach Keith how to skin a rabbit. He just wasn't allowed anywhere near it while it cooked.

 

“Okay Keith,” Hunk said, holding a rabbit by its back legs, “First hold it like this.” Keith mimicked Hunk’s hold with a rabbit of his own. “Next, we want to gather a bunch of skin like this. Then we twist” Hunk performed the actions as he spoke. “Until the skin breaks, and pull the skin off the leg.”

 

“OH MY GOD!!!” Lance shrieked at Hunk, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Nope, no, not happening. I’m going to go way over there in the woods away from this.” Lance said, then quickly stood and headed into the woods they were camping in.

 

Pidge stood just as fast, “Yeah, I do not need to see this. I’m going to join Lance.” She picked herself off the ground, running after him.

 

Keith and Hunk just looked at each other, Keith shrugging and mimicked the steps Hunk had just taught him.

 

“Lance, wait up!” Pidge called, cursing Lance and his stupid long legs. Man she needs to hang around shorter people. She found him squatting over a plant, carefully removing the flower and placing it in his pouch. She recognized the long white petals and bright yellow stamen. “Chamomile?”

 

“Yup,” Lance said popping the p and reaching for another flower. “Great for tea and for your skin.” He stood and with a devilish grin wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Nature mage right? How would you like to help me with a scavenger hunt?”

 

By the time Pidge and Lance returned to the campsite, all three rabbits were skinned and nearly finished cooking. Keith was sitting cross-legged watching the fire. Hunk, still not used to Keith’s quiet nature, was relieved Lance was back to fill the silence. “Welcome back,” Hunk called, taking his eyes off dinner.

 

Pidge sat next to Keith asking, “How’d it go?” he responded with a shrug and a grunt.

 

Lance crashed his body next to Hunk saying, “Hey Hunk. Can you shape me a pestle and mortar?”

 

“A pestle and mortar?” Hunk repeated a little confused.

 

“You know, like a bowl and smashing thingy.” Lance held his hands together, fingers curled up to resemble a bowl. Then took a fist and pretended to smash his hand.

 

Hunk stared at his friend as he spoke with his hands. “I know what a pestle and mortar are, Lance.” The Earth mage closed his eyes, holding out his hand. His brows creased and eyelids fluttered as a round ball of stone appeared, sitting perfectly in his hand. The stone started to reshape itself until it resembled a pestle and mortar before he spoke up once more, “I just was wondering what you needed it for.”

 

Lance snatched the stone tool and quickly dug through his pouch. He pulled out some of the freshly picked flowers Pidge help him find, along with an assortment of nuts and powders. Adding them all to the bowl, he crushed and stirred. The cooking rabbits were forgotten as everyone watched Lance work. He conjured and added water little at a time until he finally was happy with his concoction. His hand reached in, coming out with a grainy green paste he was smearing on his face.

 

“What is that?” Keith asked in disgust, raising an eyebrow.

 

Lance looked at him, face half green. “It’s an herbal face mask. I didn’t get a chance to use it last night and I don’t want my skin to get too oily,” Lance explained nonchalantly while applying the rest to his face.

 

Pidge lightly grabbed Keith’s arm, shaking her head and asking, “Please don’t.” No one questioned Lance further.

 

Lance continued applying his mixture, asking “How come you weren’t all over Hunk just now, Pidgey?”

 

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

 

“You are all over me whenever I cast any magic, and before with my weapon.” Lance finished the application, he looked at Pidge with a fully green face.

 

“Oh. I’ve met Earth Magi before. I’m not sure Hunk can do anything I haven’t seen before. No offense.”

 

“None taken, you’re probably right,” Hunk said, “Now who’s hungry?”

 

They made small chit chat amongst themselves as they ate, then turned in for the night.

 

The next day was just as uneventful. They found some turtles by a small pond, Keith agreed to “collect” for lunch. Lance profusely thanked him, not wanted to remember the previous day. The weather took a turn for the worse, forcing them to make camp much earlier than they would have liked. As much as Lance wanted to share a tent with his best friend, they agreed it made more sense for Hunk and Pidge to take a tent due to their sizes.

 

Keith and Lance sat quietly in their tent, listening as the rain poured around them. This wasn’t the first time they shared a tent, missions had them traveling days in all sorts of weather. But the awkward silence sure made it seem like the first time. The past few days were the most Keith has ever spoken to Lance since they first met three years ago. Lance sat with his arms and legs crossed, one leg shaking nervously. Lance spoke, finally breaking the silence, “So, tomorrow huh?”

 

“Yeah,” Keith responded quietly. He sat in the same position as Lance, minus the trembling leg. His eyes may have been turned towards the ground, but he wasn’t looking at anything.

 

“You okay?” Lance’s voice dropped considerably.

 

“Yeah”

 

“Wanna talk?”

 

Keith didn’t answer, instead of biting his lip as he decided if he wanted to share or not.

 

“Okay,” Lance said in the same soft voice. “If you need anything I’m here, okay.” He laid on his side, back facing Keith and wrapped his blanket around himself. Keith again didn’t answer, instead just stared at Lance’s huddled form as his mind wandered. “We’re going to find him, Keith, I promise. Now get some sleep.”

 

Lance’s words broke Keith’s trance. Knowing Lance couldn’t see him, Keith still nodded. He settled onto his bedroll and listened to the rain as he drifted off to sleep.

 

They used the last of their food for breakfast, packed their things, and then headed off. It was late morning when they finally reached the town of Cyreen. A giant wooden fence surrounded the town, protecting it from outside harm.

 

The group stood outside starting at the town, no one making a move to get closer. “Soooo…..” Lance spoke up, “What’s the plan?”

 

“We find out what those townspeople have to do with the Kerberos mission,” Keith snapped.

 

Lance was unphased by Keith’s usual attitude. Instead, he smirked, knowing his next question would get under Keith’s skin. “How?” Keith stared at Lance, biting his bottom lip, but not saying anything. Lance assumed Keith didn’t have a plan, but his silence proved it.

 

Pidge fixed her glasses and spoke up, “We ask the townspeople. We try to get as much information as we can about those men.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small notebook. Opening it she started to read, “Peter Erickson, Marcus Wimmer, and Ferdinand Ward. Ferdinand was an herbalist, so I’ll see if I can find an apothecary and ask there. With my knowledge of Nature magic, it shouldn’t be too hard to strike up a conversation.” She looked up from her notepad, eyeing the three males. “Peter and Marcus were hunters, so I’d say check by any butchers or tanners.”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Keith agreed, “Let’s find a place to meet back up afterward.”

 

“We should find a tavern,” Hunk said, drawing everyone’s attention, “We might hear some good information from other patrons. Plus it’s almost lunchtime.” He mumbled the last sentence.

 

“Let’s get going,” Keith said, heading into town, not looking to see his companions reactions. He didn’t want them to see his face, how last night’s anxiety crept into every inch of his being and the worry that filled his eyes.  If this lead was a dead end, it was all over. He even resisted gripping his hands into fists. No one needed to know how afraid he truly was.

 

The trio quickly caught up to Keith as they entered the town. Cyreen was a big town, but not as big as Arus. Some townsfolk noticed the group, but barely gave them more than a glance before continuing with what they were doing. It didn’t take long to find a tavern where they agreed to meet back up.

 

“We’ll meet back here in an hour,” Keith said, receiving nods of acknowledgment from the others before everyone went in separate directions.

 

Pidge headed over to the first person she saw, “Excuse me miss. Could you point me in the direction of the apothecary?”

 

The woman looked at her with a frown, “We don’t have an apothecary. Are you not from around here?”

 

“Oh,” Pidge was disappointed, but she could work with this. “I’m not, just passing through with my family. Do you know a place I could sell herbs? I’m trying to make some extra money with the  plants I collected.”

 

“You could try your luck at Madam Tulip’s. She could always use more stock. She works out of her house so you can find her in the residential district. Just go down that road,” the woman pointed, “at the fork in the road go right, and she is on the left side. There is a sign outside the house.”

 

“Thank you,” Pidge said, nodding and heading down the road. She wove in and out of the busy people until she got to the fork. Making a right and the house should be…...Pidge stood in the middle of the road looking up and down not seeing the sign for ‘Madam Tupil’s’. “It should be here,” she spoke aloud. “Guess I’ll just ask…….some...one?” Pidge looked around and the once-crowded area was now completely void of people. “Great,” she sighed.

 

After wasting more time than she would have liked, she doubled back to the fork and took the other path. Sitting in the middle of the row of houses on the right was what she was looking for. “I wonder if that woman got her directions mixed up on purpose,” Pidge mumbled to herself before entering the house. She was hit with a wave of scents, mint, cinnamon, and pine were just a few of what she was able to identify but an undercurrent of rotting fruit and charcoal permeated the building. The overwhelming aromas caused her to start coughing. She covered her mouth, instantly regretting it when she saw an unpleasant elderly woman narrowing her eyes at her. Pidge made an overly loud yawning sound in hopes of fooling the woman.

 

“Excuse me. I think I might be getting a little sick,” Pidge tried to sound convincing. “I was wondering if-”

 

“OH! You poor thing!” She exclaimed in an airy whimsical voice. “I have the perfect tea for illness!” She rummaged through a cabinet, pulling out a metal tin. “It is all natural, made from the saliva of a crow and twigs from its nest!”

 

Pidge shot her hands up into the air, waving them back and forth. “No, thank you. I’m fine. But what I wanted to know-”

 

“How bad is your sight?” Madam Tulip interrupted again.

 

“Huh?”

 

“I have a salve you can apply daily to your eyes to heal them!” She rummaged through a different cabinet, pulling out a glass jar filled with what could only be described as green slime. “I can’t tell you my secret, but I can say it involves slug excretions.”

 

At the mention of slug excretions, Pidge again brought her hand to cover her mouth, but this time to hide a retch. Once she regained her composure she tried for a third time to speak. This time she took out the extra herbs she collected with Lance the day prior. Maybe she could finally get a sentence out with visual help. “I have some extra herbs I was-”

 

“Have you hit puberty yet son?”

 

“What?!” Pidge yelled taken back from her question.

 

“Oh silly me, of course, you have. I bet you have gotten certain urges for girls. I have just the thing!” The woman crossed the room to go to another cabinet, but this time Pidge fled before she could pull out whatever she had planned. Quickly shutting the door behind her she let out a sigh and leaned back again it. She grew up around other Nature Magi so the idea of herbal remedies was second nature (no pun intended) for her. But whatever that woman was selling was not going to help anyone. Pidge picked herself back up and headed back to the town. She had wasted enough time and got nowhere. “I hope the others had better luck,” she thought to herself as she headed back to the tavern.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hunk was not having better luck. He headed straight to the meat market. It was more crowded here than the entrance to town. Voices yelling over other voices, as orders were being called out. He tapped a man on the shoulder saying, “Excuse me, sir.” He either wasn’t loud enough to be heard or just ignored. So he moved onto another person. “Excuse me,” he said a little louder. The person shrugged him off and continued on.

 

It was hard for a big guy like him to move through the crowd, so instead he decided he would use his size to his advantage and make a path for himself. It was a good plan, except he didn’t have the heart to push people around. On the contrary, the crowd ended up pushing him around. Lucky for him, he ended up at the corner of one of the butcher stalls. “Um...Hi sir!”

 

Success! The butcher turned to Hunk asking, “What can I get you, son?”

 

“I wanted to know if you knew a Marcus Wimmer!” Hunk yelled over the crowd.

 

“Wimmer? Yeah, he’s dead. Dead like this here goat!” The butcher pushed the hanging goat carcass into Hunk’s face, “Only thirty gold!” This act didn’t phase Hunk since he was used to cooking with all sorts of animals.

 

“No thank you, sir,” Hunk declined, “Could you tell me more about Marcus Wimmer?”

 

“He’s dead, what more is there to tell. Look if you’re not buying kid then get lost,” The man was quickly irritated. When Hunk didn’t answer, he turned his attention to another potential customer.

 

After minutes of awkward pushing, Hunk made it to the stall one over to ask that butcher. He was ignored for minutes before he was told to “Piss off if you’re not buying.” Hunk was about to call it quits when a woman shoved a crate into his chest. “Uff,” He grunted on impact.

 

“Go take that to Leokk’s stand!” The woman ordered.

 

“Excuse me?” Hunk asked very confused as to why he was holding a crate, who was Leokk, and why was he taking said crate to Leokk.

 

“Take this crate to Leokk! At the end!” She pointed to an end stall before walking away.

 

“Wait, ma’am, I think you have…..the wrong person….” Hunk let out a deep sigh, he didn’t want to just leave this crate alone. ‘Might as well do a lady a favor,’ he thought, making his way through the still crowded area. It was a bit easier to get people to move when they were being shoved with a crate. When he made it to the end, he saw a man and asked, “Um...are you Leokk? A woman gave me this crate and asked-.”

 

“Set it down over there! Misha said she would bring it to me an hour ago!” Leokk said, obviously annoyed and not giving Hunk the time of day. “Go take this letter to Huffer. He’s across the way!” He left a letter at the corner of his stall and went back to work.

 

“Err. Sir!” Hunk desperately tried to get his attention again, but it was a lost cause. He picked up the letter. Letting out a huff he turned and walked no more than five feet to Huffer’s stall. “Are you Huffer? Cause I have this letter.”

 

A short round man looked up at Hunk. “Wonderful! Thank you, now would you be a doll and take this….”

 

Poor Hunk spent his hour doing mindless deliveries. He knew as soon as he told Lance how he spent his time, he would be laughed at. Hunk wouldn’t be living this down for a while.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Lance had a brilliant idea if he did say so himself. Find a pretty lady, use his charm and wit to seduce the pretty lady, get the pretty lady to give him all the information he needs, including her favorite place to eat for their date, and use that information to find Shiro and the rest. Keith would be so amazed and grateful with Lance for finding his lost brother. He could hear Keith now, ‘Oh Lance you are so extraordinary! I’m so glad you’re my partner!’ Maybe the Garrison would throw a ceremony in his name for finding the missing members of the Kerberos crew. The only hiccup in his plan was where to find this pretty lady.

 

Lance wandered around the entrance to the town, surveying the area. Then he headed to a small farmstead. Still not seeing anyone who would take his breath away, he made his way to a clothing store. There she was, a petite woman with hair kissed by fire. A light dusting of freckles covered her face and as he approached her, he could see his reflection in her green eyes. “Why hello there. Do you happen to have a map?” he asked her in his low, seductive voice, placing his hand against the wall beside him and leaning into it.

 

“What?” she asked, eyeing him up and down.

 

“Do you have a map? Because I’m lost in your eyes,” He wiggled his eyebrows, grinning at her.

 

“Is that some sort of joke!?” She yelled, her eyes boring into him.

 

Lance shrunk back a bit at her outburst. “No, it’s not a joke it’s was a pickup line.” Lance was no stranger to rejection, but this was even a bit much for him. What was her problem?

 

“Do you think this is some sort of game?!” she shouted. Her voice was gaining the attention of the other occupants of the store. They were glaring and shaking their heads at him.

 

“No...I--” Lance stuttered out. He could feel his chest tightening.

 

She was jabbing him with her finger as she continued, “You Garrison bastards have done nothing this past year, and still you won’t leave us alone!” Lance looked around frantically, having no idea how this derailed so fast. The patrons were now whispering to each other. He could probably make out what they were saying if his heart wasn’t pounding so loudly.

 

“Look, lady, I think there has been a misunderstanding,” Lance pleaded, trying to regain some control over this situation. He raised his hands in front of him in surrender.

 

“Misunderstanding?!” Clearly that was the wrong choice of words on Lance’s part. “My father went missing a year ago right outside of your damn establishment, and for the past year my family has suffered while you bunch did nothing!” Her fists were clenched and her body trembled.  

 

“Father?” Lance choked out, putting the pieces together.

 

“My father is Peter Erickson,” she growled, “Just over a year ago he went to the neighboring forest of Kerberos to hunt. After a week and a half with no word we contacted the Garrison for help. They humored us but ultimately did nothing. Then a month later you lot suddenly show up pretending to give a damn because YOUR people go missing! They interrogated my family for days. And when we were too emotional to answer their damn questions, they had the audacity to THREATEN my little brother for ‘impeding their investigation’.”

 

Lance found it harder and harder to breathe properly. He barely squeaked out an “Oh,” before he saw her hand coming right for his face. The loud slap echoed through the room. Lance felt his now redden cheek throb in pain. He scurried out the door, not caring what looks and reaction the others were giving him. Once outside he took a much-needed breath of fresh air. Hurrying away from the store he stopped a few blocks away to catch his breath. He leaned against a wall, cradling his face in his hands and chanting to himself, “You’re okay, You’re okay.”

 

When he felt composed enough, he started back to the tavern. Maybe he’d take the long way there, he really didn’t want to explain how he wasted an hour and have Keith explode on him.

 

“Is that him?” he heard someone ask. At the corner of his eye, he could see two townspeople looking at him. “No, must be another Garrison lackey,” a second voice spoke, “The other one looked possessed by the great spirit of fire.”

 

“Urg, what did Keith do now?” Lance groaned.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Keith had an hour, an hour to find out what connection this town has to his brother. All he had to do was ask some townspeople. Just go up to some friendly looking townsfolk and talk to them. How hard can that be? Keith could do this.

 

He spied two women on the side of the road, chatting and laughing at each other. Keith marched up to them, or as onlookers would later describe, stomped up to them. “EXCUSE ME,” his voice was just a notch below a full yell. The startled women turned to him. He lowered his voice to a normal volume when he said, “Last year three men from this town were killed in the Kerberos forest. Do you know what they were doing there?”

 

The women looked appalled and with a “Humph” they stormed away from him. Keith stood there for a moment, wondering ‘What did I do wrong?’ He took a deep breath reassuring himself, ‘This is just one setback. I can do this.’

 

Keith found a man and a woman shopping for fresh apples, chatting up the fruit vendor. Again Keith marched up to the people and again interrupted their conversation. “Excuse me. I’m from the Garrison. My brother went missing last year in the Kerberos forest, around the same time three men from here were assumed dead. Can you tell me anything about those men?”

 

The man buying apples pulled the woman closer to him, narrowing his eyes, “I can tell you your brother probably deserved to go missing, and we should assume him to be dead,” he spat.

 

That familiar anger was boiling inside Keith. He wanted nothing more than to release his fire on this man. “What did you say,” Keith growled.

 

“Haven’t you Garrison drones cause enough trouble!” the vendor scolded. “Nothing has changed since last year. Those good men are still missing and we’re still being harassed by Garrison goons. Now get lost before you make any more unneeded trouble!”

 

Keith was still furious about how the man spoke about Shiro, but the way the vendor spoke reminded him how heartless some of the higher-ups could be. These people had been through enough. Without a word, Keith turned and headed away from the group, ignoring the first man as he spoke again, “Little shit.”

 

The once loud, chatty market was reduced to low murmurs, all the people fixated on him as he hurried away. When he felt he was far enough away he wrapped his arms around himself. ‘Why is this so hard?’ he mentally asked himself. He ended up in a less crowded part of town, with fewer gawking eyes.

 

“Hey, mister!”

 

Keith looked at the source of the voice and saw three children, a short pudgy boy, a thin tall boy, and a petite girl. “Are you causing trouble in my town!” the pudgy boy spoke.

 

“Huh?” Keith looked at the children, clueless.

 

The boy spoke again in an authoritative voice, well as authoritative as a ten-year-old can be. “I’m King. I run this town! This is Moontow,” he gestured to the girl, “and this is-”

 

“My name is Klaizap! I’m the bravest warrior in this whole town!” the other boy declared, jutting his fist into the air.

 

“Okay...um….I’m not very good with children,” Keith said, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“We’re not children! We’re the Arusian Gang!” King shouted. A few of the villagers took notice but then paid them no mind. This probably happens a lot.

 

“Okay sure, what do you want?” Keith asked.

 

“We heard you asking around about a certain event,” Moontow spoke up in a hushed voice. Keith remained quiet, trying not to get his hopes up again.

 

Klaizap spoke this time, “For a certain price, we may have information…”

 

Something sparked inside Keith. He lunged forward, gripping Klaizap by the shirt, completely forgetting these were just children. “What do you know about the missing people!?” he demanded. Klaizap’s froze, his terrified eyes staring into Keith’s violet. King stumbled back, tripping over himself, crashing to the ground. Moontow let out a scream, snapping Keith out of his obsessive trance. He released his grip and stepped backward mumbling, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean too…”

 

Klaizap burst into tears and the three children fled as fast as they could away from Keith. That’s when he saw the furious townspeople who had seen everything. Before anything could get worse, he ran as fast as he could away from the scene and straight to the tavern.

  
  
  



	10. Blackwood Manor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> The group arrived at Cyreen to investigate and speak with the locals. Unfortunately nothing went as they had hoped and they hadn't learn anything more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news, things happen in this chapter! I feel like the last couple of chapters were fillerish, but I'm still happy with them. I have that RPG mentality where you have side quests and small town between your main plot points. Speaking of RPGs..... another 50DKP if you spot the Chrono Trigger reference. 
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith entered the tavern with his head down in defeat. His plan to gather information failed so miserably, he was beginning to lose all hope. He looked around, ignoring any eyes that fell on him until he saw the familiar brown mop of hair. Pidge’s cheek was flush against the wood grain table, using her shortened nails to pick at a scratch in the table. She didn't even acknowledge Keith’s presence when he approached the table. Only when he pulled up a chair and spoke, “Didn't go well?” did she shift her eyes to him.   
  
“Looks like you had as much luck as I did,” she said with a sadness, then continued picking at the wood. Keith placed his elbows on the table, letting his head fall into his hands. He stayed like that, trying to calm himself when he felt something cold against his arm. Lifting his head from his hands, he saw a glass of water next to him.  
  
Hunk stood next to Keith, passing another water to Pidge. “You two should drink something. It will make you feel better,” Hunk lectured, “I’ll grab two more for when Lance shows up.” The bigger man smiled as he spoke, but his eyes betrayed him. He didn’t find out anything either. Pidge thanked him, lifting her head and slowly drinking the full glass as Hunk disappeared deeper into the tavern. Keith gripped his glass, moving it in small circles and watching the water inside sway. “Lance is the only one left,” he said while watching the water.  
  
“This isn’t the end. I’m not stopping until I find my family,” Pidge stated matter of factly. When Keith looked up to meet her, she looked much more refreshed. “And Shiro,” she grinned.  
  
“Thanks, Pidge.” Keith smiled, lifting his water and drinking it all.   
  
Hunk was back holding two more glasses of water. He eyed both empty glasses, then looked at the ones he held. He spoke narrowing his eyes, “These were going to be for Lance and me….”  
  
“We’re good. Thank you Hunk,” Keith said. Hunk let out a sigh of relief and sat in a seat between the two of them, sliding the second glass across to the empty seat.   
  
“We want to make bets on what’s holding Lance up?” Hunk asked in a light-hearted tone, trying to brighten the mood.  
  
“Girls,” Keith stated.  
  
“Pretty girls,” Pidge added.  
  
“Man you two took my answer,” Hunk said. They let out a light laugh, something they all needed.   
“If you want to know funny, you need to hear about the crazy lady I met,” Pidge started to tell her story, but was interrupted by an overly dramatic groan. Lance whipped the chair back, crashing his body onto the seat, legs spread forward, arms draped to their sides and his head was craned over the back of the seat.  
  
“Why did we think it was a good idea to wear our Garrison uniforms?” Lane moaned, throwing his hands into the air, “People hate us here.” He fell forward, crossing his arms on the table and letting the side of his head fall onto them.  
  
Hunk tilted his head to match Lance’s, eyeing his bright red cheek and asked, “What happened to your face?”  
  
“The result of wearing a Garrison uniform!” Lance cried, finally sitting properly and rubbing his still throbbing cheek.  
  
“It was a girl wasn’t it?” Pidge grinned at him, almost enjoying his theatrics.   
  
Keith, experiencing similar misery, took pity on Lance. “Maybe wearing our uniforms wasn’t the best of ideas,” Keith spoke up.   
  
“I heard you made an impression,” Lance said in a sing-song matter. “What did you do?” He leaned towards Keith. Pidge and Hunk followed Lance’s lead and stared at Keith waiting for him to answer.  
  
Keith let out a sigh, he should get this over with. “The people didn’t take kindly to me,” he paused before continuing, “I met some kids and……” he bit his lip. “I might have scared them a little.” His three companions needed a moment to process what Keith just said when suddenly Lance burst out a huge laugh.   
  
“Bwahaha! Holy shit, Keith!” Lance spoke between laughing and gasping for breath, “That is so you!”  
  
Hunk shook his head, Keith wasn’t sure if it was aimed at him or Lance. Pidge spoke up, “Yeah, I’ve only known you for a few days, but that sounds like you. Don’t feel too bad, the woman that runs a herbal remedy shop thought I was a boy and needed to take something to control my ‘urges’ towards girls.” That had Keith and Hunk laughing. The tension from earlier was slowly dissipating.  
  
“Maybe you should have picked up some of that stuff for Lance,” Hunk said, grinning at his friend.    
  
Lance let out a gasp, dramatically placing his hand over his heart and saying, “ Hunk! You wound me. Besides, that would only solve half the problem.” Lance waggled his eyebrows and Hunk rolled his eyebrows, but not in annoyance or anger. “So, Keith frightened children,” Lance ignored Keith’s attempt to form words to defend himself and continued, “and Pidge found a cure to overpopulation. What about you buddy?”  
  
Hunk tapped his fingers together as the others waited for a response. “I got asked to do some errands at the meat market…...and I didn’t have the heart to say no……sorry guys I didn’t find out anything,” he said ashamed he wasn’t more help. He lowered his head not wanting to see his friend’s disappointed faces.   
  
“Sounds like you had as much luck as Keith and me,” Pidge said, lightly nudging him with a smile.  
  
“Yup, that is one hundred percent something you’d do,” Lance said with a grin. “Did you at least get a reward or something from it?”  
  
“Oh yeah!” Hunk looked up. “The lady that confused me with her worker gave me this nice bandana!” He took it out of his pocket and wrapped it around his head.  
  
“Looking good!” Lance hollered and pointed finger guns at him.   
  
Keith spoke up, looking at Lance, “What did you find?”   
  
“I found Peter Erickson’s daughter,” Lance said nonchalantly, taking notice of how the smiled disappeared from the other’s faces. “Turns out she hates the Garrison and anyone affiliated with them.” His voice lowered to something filled with despair and sympathy. “They weren’t kind to her or her family. That’s probably why everyone here has been giving us dirty looks.”   
  
“I know that feeling,” Pidge said. “Maybe I could talk to her, I know what she is going through. Lance can you take me to her!”  
  
Hunk spoke up, “Hold on! She is probably still angry from her dealing with Lance. We should give her time to cool off. Why don’t we order some lunch first?” Hunk leaned to his side and produced four menus from under the table. “I grabbed these when I got water,” he explained to his confused friends and passed them out.  
  
“We don’t have a lot of money, so order cheap.” Keith’s words came out more like a demand than a request.  
  
“Pork it is!” Pidge cheered and closed her menu.  
  
“Lamb sounds good,” Lance mumbled to himself, still eyeing his menu over.  
  
“I said cheap,” Keith spat, glaring at Lance.  
  
“It’s the third cheapest thing!” Lance reported. “At least I’m not ordering the……” He scanned the paper in front of him for the most expensive thing, “VENISON!” Keith continued to glare, waiting for Lance to back down.  
  
“That doesn’t make sense,” Hunk said ignoring the two. “Why is that so expensive? The forests around this whole area are full of deer. That has to be a mistake.” Hunk looked around, spotting the waitress and raising his hand.   
  
The waitress approached, greeting the table and asking, “What can I get for you lot?” She didn’t seem phased by the Garrison outfits.   
  
“I was wondering ma’am. Is there a mistake on the menu?” Hunk asked, pointing to the prices. “Why is the Venison so expensive? Aren’t your local forests filled with deer?”  
  
“I’m sure they are, no one’s been in Blackwood forest for almost two years now. We’ve had to hunt on the far side of Kerberos forest for deer,” she explained.  
  
Keith and Lance remained quiet. She might not have thrown them out for being with the Garrison, but they didn’t want to push their luck. Besides, Hunk’s friendly demeanor seemed to be doing just fine. Hunk continued the conversation, “Why hasn’t anyone been able to go into Blackwood forest?”  
  
“That forest is haunted!” She exclaimed, excited to tell the story. She grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat between Pidge and Hunk. “About two years ago, hunters reported strange creatures appearing along with weird noises. Animals were being found mangled and trees were broken in two. The town sent out a group to investigate, and you know what they found?!” She looked to each one at the table, who shook their heads. “A GHOST!” she yelled. “It was the ghost of the forest’s creator, Fiona.” The group looked at her puzzled, unsure if they should ask any questions or let her continue. “They met a ghostly pale woman wearing a long robe. She had red tear stains along each cheek. And after proclaiming she was Fiona, the guardian of the forest, she attacked the men with lighting! No one has gone back to that forest since.”  
  
“Who is Fiona?” Pidge asked.  
  
The waitress must love telling stories, because she beamed at the question, “Oh child, I’m glad you asked! Four hundred years ago that forest wasn’t there. Instead, it was land owned by Lord Thaddeus Blackwood. In the center was his great manor. He was a kind man but enjoyed watching trained warriors fight. So much so, he had an enormous pit dug so he could build an inground coliseum! Fighters would come from far and wide to participate in his yearly tournaments, but he could never get enough. One day they say he snapped and went mad. He didn’t want to wait the full year for another event, so he began making his own servants fight each other, sometimes to the death. Then, he sent his subordinates to start kidnapping strong men from surrounding towns.  
  
He made the mistake of taking a pig farmer from this very town. He was engaged to a very powerful nature mage, Fiona. She got wind of her fiance’s abductions and raced to save him. The poor girl got there just in time to see the love of her life be struck down. In her anger, she used her magic to call upon nature itself to lay waste to the manor and Coliseum, killing Blackwood and his cohorts. She created the forest that stands there now. Hundreds of lives were lost in that damn coliseum, so no wonder it’s haunted. Anyway, that's all the stories I have time for, what can I get you to eat?”  
  
The group was processing all the information she just told them, pieces falling into place in their head. They wanted to discuss their thoughts, but not in front of the waitress. “Four pork and rice plates,” Hunk quickly spoke. The woman nodded and left them to give their order to the chef.   
  
As soon as the woman was out of earshot they all began speaking at once, soon realizing they were talking at once and not hearing a thing the others spoke. Hunk held up his hand to quiet everyone. “Pidge you first,” he said.   
  
“Those ‘weird creatures’ have to be voidlings! The trees were the same way at the corruption!”   
  
“Shiro said something about people in robes, right?” Lance spoke up, unable to wait any longer. “What if that Fiona woman was one of them?”   
  
“We need to go there!” Keith exclaimed. “It’s the perfect place to hide. Convince the locals it's haunted, so they stay away.”  
  
“Should we let the Garrison know?” Hunk’s words silenced the others. “I mean the top fighters the Garrison had to offer, didn't stand a chance right? What can we do?”  
  
“They won't believe us,” Keith said gripping his fist, “Besides we've gotten this far without them.”   
  
Lance stared at his partner, watching that familiar anger rise to the surface. He knew Keith was not going to like what he had to say. “Keith,” he spoke softly, waiting to get the other’s attention. When he did he spoke again. “Hunk's right. We could be completely out of our league.” That did it, Keith glared daggers at Lance, grinding his teeth while his now clenched fist trembled. Lance spoke his next words as fast as he could, almost blending them into each other. “We should still go, we just need to be careful!” Keith’s scowl lessened a bit. “I know you love running head first into things, but if shit gets bad, retreat is an option.”  
  
“I agree with Lance,” Pidge declared, caused the others to give her a confused side-eye, “and Hunk. We should do some recon and collect evidence to take back to the Garrison. If we die, we won't be helping anyone.” The next words she spoke looked like they pained her to say. She closed her eyes and said, “My family waited this long, they can wait another week, I hope.”   
  
Before they could discuss further the waitress returned, carefully balancing four plates in her arms. “Here you go dears!” she said while placing the food in front of each of them.   
  
“My grandmother would always say, ‘Can't save the world on an empty stomach’,” Hunk said before digging into the meal.   
  
After a filling lunch, the group paid and set off. Pidge asked the way to the forest, making sure she was far enough away from Keith and Lance. She found out the forest was only a half hour away, and she was crazy for going near it.  
  
The group didn’t get very far before Hunk began panicking about what could be waiting for them in the forest. Rather than humoring Hunk with an ‘everything will be okay’, Lance agreed anything could be waiting to kill them. The remainder of the walk was spent planning precautions for any ‘what ifs’ Hunk could think of. By the time they got to the forest, Hunk felt prepared for anything.   
  
The group stopped outside the entrance. Pidge, Hunk, and Lance turned to Keith, waiting for instructions or a plan. Keith continued to stare into the forest, fist clenching and unclenching. He could feel their eyes on him, ‘Why do people keep expecting me to know what to do?’ Keith thought to himself. He hadn’t known what he was doing since before Shiro’s disappearance, and even then he only followed what Shiro told him to do. Venturing into the Kerberos forest, infiltrating the Garrison, coming to Cyreen, it was all based on instinct and flimsy theories. Sure, they planned getting the information from the Garrison, but Keith didn’t help nearly as much as the others.  
  
“Alright!” Lance’s voice boomed, startling the others. He clapped his hands together grinning. “You know I love staring at Keith as much as the next guy, but we got a job to do. Hunk, Pidge! Keep your weapons ready.” The two nodded, Pidge unsheathing her Katar and Hunk unstrapping his crossbow. “Keith,” As if planned, both boys summoned their weapons simultaneously.   
  
“That was so cool,” Pidge whispered in awe.   
  
“I know, I am pretty cool,” Lance said, giving Pidge a wink. Pidge responded with a groan and rolled her eyes at him. “Keith, you take the lead, you want me beside you or at the rear?”  
  
Keith eyed the nervous Hunk and inexperienced Pidge, looking back to Lance he answered, “It’s probably best if you head the rear.”  
  
“Oh Keith, I love it when you talk dirty to me,” Lance said in a low husky voice.   
  
Keith’s only response was a glare before giving his attention to Pidge. “How long will it take for you to find the house?”  
  
Pidge fixed her glasses before answering, “If what that woman told us is true and this forest was made because of a mage, the manor should be the epicenter. Which means just a few minutes.” She walked to the treeline, placing her hand flat against the bark, and closed her eyes.  
  
Keith turned to Hunk, the bigger man met his gaze. “Hunk,” Keith started, speaking in a soft voice, “Stay close to Pidge, keep her safe and if things go south leave us and get her to safety.”  
  
Hunk’s brows furrowed and lips twitched. He looked torn, obviously keeping Pidge safe was important, but at the cost of Lance, his best friend, and Keith, it was difficult to think about. Lance stepped beside him, slapping his hand on Hunk’s shoulder with a smile.  
  
“Keith’s right. We’ll be fine, so don’t worry about us big guy,” Lance reassured his friend.   
  
Hunk nodded and agreed, “I’ll take care of Pidge.”  
  
“Just because I’m a couple years younger than you guys doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself!” Pidge yelled, standing beside the trees. With one arm on her hip and the other reminding them of the weapon she held in the other.   
  
Lance’s hand on Hunk’s shoulder turned into an elbow, leaning on him and saying, “If things go south can we just insult Pidge a couple of times, then watch as she murders everything?”  
  
“Only if you do the insulting. I want to live,” Hunk added.   
  
A wicked smirk crossed Pidges face. “Okay, Losers! I found it, so let’s get going!”   
  
Keith and Pidge lead the way, with Lance and Hunk behind them. They followed what used to be a path, now overgrown with grass and weeds from lack of use. Keith was on alert, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Lance was doing the same, occasionally stopping briefly to listen before catching up. The deeper they got, the more they could hear birds chirping and animals roaming the area. With every bush shake or twig snap caused the group to pause and take a fighting stance. Most times the animal was fleeing before being seen, but one occurrence had a fat rabbit hopping out of the bush, Lance swearing it stared him down and wanted revenge for it’s fallen brethren before Pidge rolled her eyes and shooed it away.  
  
The further they ventured, the thicker the woods got and the stronger the scent of pine filled the air. Pidge took a deep inhale, speaking on exhale with a smile, “That’s the smell of silver pine trees! They are normally native to Olkarion. It reminds me of home.”   
  
Hunk and Lance followed suit, inhaling deeply. “Smells just like pine to me,” Lance said, sounding disappointed.  
  
“Nope, I can tell this is different than most pine. It has more of a….richer smell. Right?” Hunk asked Pidge, who nodded in agreement. “Hey Keith, why not stop and smell the trees?” Hunk nudged Keith with his elbow.  
  
Keith let out a sigh but didn’t protest as he complied with the request, inhaling deeply. Once the strong scent filled his senses, he felt his head throbbing in pain. He let out a whine, shutting his eyes quickly and raising his hands to either side of his head. ‘Keith?’ someone called, he couldn’t recognize the voice while his head still pounded away. Something stirred in his mind, a memory maybe. It was blurry. He was small, surrounded by five figures. Another stood next to him. His knife, he was holding it, now was bloody; he was crying. “KEITH!” a voice woke him from his visions, opening his eyes all he saw was panicked blue ocean spheres. It took him a moment to gather himself and calm his deep breathing he didn’t know he was doing. Lance hovered over him, resting his hands on Keith’s shoulders. He felt a hand squeeze his leg, following it up to see Pidge looking just as worried, crouching next to Lance.  Wait...why was he crouching unless….he was on the ground, he must have fallen or something.  
  
“You okay, Buddy?” Hunk asked quietly in his ear. Keith was laying against Hunk, his big arms wrapped around the smaller boy.  
  
“What….What happened?” Keith asked, leaning forward out of Hunk’s embrace.  
  
“That’s our question!” Lance shouted. “You sounded like you were in pain, then fell over. Lucky for you Hunk caught you before you hit the ground.”  
  
“I think I’ve been here before,” Keith’s voice was still low. The others gave him some space, allowing him to stand.  
  
“You think?” Pidge questioned him.  
  
“We’ve never had any missions around here. Did you come here with Shiro?” Lance asked, still eyeing Keith cautiously.  
  
“Shiro?” Keith repeated, closing his eyes again trying to remember what he saw. “No, not Shiro.”   
  
“Then who? And when?” Lance questioned further.  
  
“I don’t know Lance!” Keith shouted back with his usual anger. “If I did know, I would tell you!”  
  
Lance snorted at that comment. “Right, just like you told me about your excursion into Kerberos,” he said sarcastically as he crossed his arms across his chest, almost hitting his face with the longbow he still held.  
  
“You know I didn’t plan that!” Keith took a step toward the source of his anger. Hunk reached out, grabbing Keith’s arm to stop him, but Keith immediately shrugged him off.  
  
“And if you did, would you have told me?!”   
  
“You’re not my babysitter, Lance! I don’t have to tell you shit!”  
  
Lance opened his mouth to tell this boy off but stopped when he heard rustling in the bushes near them. Pivoting towards the bush, he only had a moment to ready his bow before three large humanoid creatures jumped out from the bushes and trees. They were all at least a foot taller than Hunk, covered in brown fur with lots of black spots, backs hunched and faces resembling those of hyenas. They wore animal hide leggings and a matching hide breastplate. Two were wielding make-shift axes in each hand and the third was holding a long wooden spear.   
  
Lance’s eyes widened in surprise, screaming, “GNOLLS!” before letting off an arrow and jumping backward away from them. The arrow hit one of the axe wielders in the shoulder, causing it to snarl but not stop its charge at him.   
  
Pidge clenched her weapon and charged the one with a spear. She quickly created a plan in her head, ‘It’s bigger and slower than me, and spears are meant for mid-distance fighting. I just need to get close and it won’t be able to deal with my speed or size.’ She was right. After dodging its wild swings and stabs she began circling it, cutting its legs and stabbing at anywhere she could reach. She did need to duck one and roll out of the way of the spear, but it was too slow to hit her.  
  
Hunk watched Pidge charge one gnoll and saw the other two heading straight for Lance. If Lance’s arrow didn’t phase it much, he didn’t think his crossbow bolts would be enough to stop one before it reached his friend. He followed everyone else and charged the one Lance already shot, and using his magic to harden his skin. The gnoll noticed him, bringing its axes up and swinging them down at him but Hunk grabbed its arms before it could make contact. The gnoll’s strength pushed his unstable footing back a little, but Hunk refused to move more. He used all his strength to slowly gain leverage over this three-hundred-pound creature.   
  
Keith readied his sword, about to join the fight, except his sword wasn’t in his hand. He frantically looked over the ground, but it wasn’t there either. Cursing to himself, he must have accidentally dismissed it when he collapsed. Keith unsheathed his dagger and assessed the situation. Pidge was, surprisingly, doing fine for herself. Hunk was mostly in a stalemate, but in no danger for the moment. Ironically the only one in need of help was the one who actually had combat training. Lance held his longbow in front of him, using it to deflect the fury of axe swings.  
  
Keith grinned a little at seeing Lance struggle, but, to be fair Lance was a long-range fighter and has unnatural eyesight and accuracy. Within a moment, Keith closed the distance to the gnoll, stabbing his dagger into its gut while he created fire in his other hand. With fire in hand, he palmed the gnoll in the face and gripped his fingers around its head, increasing his fire. It screamed in pain, being distracted enough for Keith to lodge his weapon in its throat.   
  
Keith was already charging the gnoll Pidge was dealing with before his gnoll fell to the ground, choking on its own blood. At the corner of his eyes, he saw arrow after arrow pass his head and hit the gnoll grappling with Hunk. Pidge’s opponent was on its knees, panting. On instinct, Keitch channeled his magic into his dagger, creating a blade of flames. With one swing he cut clean through its neck. He looked at Pidge, then to Hunk and Lance before asking, “Is everyone alright?”   
  
Pidge and Hunk responded with, “Yeah,” and “I’m fine.” Lance gripped his weapon tighter, glaring at Keith as he spat, “Guess you really don’t tell me shit.” Keith’s eyes traveled to where Lance was looking, his dagger was still covered in flames. He quickly dismissed his flames and resheath his weapon. A wave of guilt washed over him causing him to bite his bottom lip. He wasn’t hiding this specifically from Lance, he was hiding it from everyone. ‘Do I tell him?” Keith thought to himself.   
  
Keith’s silence was enough of an answer for Lance. “Since everyone’s fine let's continue on. We made enough noise and don’t want to attract any more attention,” Lance said, taking the lead. Hunk hurried over to Lance, placing his hand on his shoulder and saying something, probably trying to calm Lance.   
  
Pidge stood beside Keith staring at him, torn between asking him about the dagger or not. “Keith,” she started to speak.  
  
“How much further?” Keith asked interrupting what she was going to say.  
  
That solved that dilemma. Pidge frowned, answering with a simple, “Not much.”   
  
They continued on, Pidge steering them in the correct direction. The new additional Keith/Lance tension was not helping the mood. Hunk and Pidge were afraid of saying anything in case it caused the other two to start another fight. It didn’t take much longer until they came across the remains of houses. The structure was barely there. Walls were missing, roofs were either just barely hanging on or completely non-existent. They were covered in thick vines and moss, others had enormous trees growing through them.   
  
Hunk was the first to speak, “It looks like the trees just grew straight through these homes.”  
  
“That woman in the tavern was right,” Pidge added, “A powerful nature mage had to have done this. There is no way a normal tree could do that.” She pointed to a house missing two of its walls, a large tree growing from the center. If you look closely you could make out the pattern of the once stone floor that was displaced by the tree’s powerful roots.   
  
“How many people do you think lost their lives and homes?” Lance asked rhetorically, his voice was soft and full of sympathy. No one answered. They remained silent and slowly made their way forward, still looking at the ruins surrounding them. It took another few minutes of walking after they exited the small settlement before they saw the manor. A once great estate was reduced to the same state as the houses. Multiple trees, bushes, and an assortment of plants grew around and through the building. Thick vines covered one end, wrapped around the building as if it were choking it. But that wasn’t what caught their attention. To the side, dug into the ground, was a huge oval pit at least forty yards long. This was the Colosseum the woman spoke of in her stories. The sides were lined with stone walls for support. One side held stone seats for viewing and another had stairs carved into it. Like the house, this too was ravaged by nature.   
  
The group approached the edge, looking down into the structure. “This is disgusting,” Pidge spat with distaste.   
  
“Challenging someone to a fight to test who is stronger is fine, some people call it a sport. But forcing them against their wills to fight to the death…” Lance’s voice was low as he spoke.  
  
“What is with you stupid men and needed to prove who is the strongest!” Pidge yelled, turning to Lance like this was his fault.   
  
“Pidge, lower your voice.” Hunk hushed her, nervously looking around for anyone who could have heard them.   
  
Keith ignored the talk, and instead headed for the stairs leading down into the pit. He was about a quarter of the way down before the others took notice. “Keith!” he heard Lance hiss after him before the three followed him down. On his descent, something caught Keith’s attention. Making his way to the item, his suspicions were correct. Lance was the first to stomp over to him, hissing in a low voice “What are you doing?!”  
  
Keith touched the wall, pulling away and showing Lance. “It’s blood,” he said, a red stain now on his glove. “It’s fresh.”  
  
Pidge gasped, stepping closer, needing to see it with her own eyes. “Who’s do you think it is?” she asked, knowing no one could possibly know, but she needed to ask anyway. Keith looked around until he saw a gate leading into probably the basement of the manor. Lance grabbed his arm and squeezed tightly, gaining Keith’s attention.  
  
“We are only here for surveillance, remember,” Lance’s voice was stern, looking Keith directly in his eyes.   
  
“There are people in there, Lance!” Pidge cried, voice louder than she should be speaking. “Do you expect us to travel three days back to the Garrison, wait for who the fuck knows how long until they are ready to leave, then travel another three days back here? Whoever is in there will be dead by then!”   
  
“Pidge, you need to calm down. Lance is just following the plan we made,” Hunk said, trying the diplomatic approach as best as he could. His eyes darting between her and the gate. He was sure it was going to open any second.   
  
“Fuck the plan,” Keith said, breaking out of Lance’s grip. “Look around sharpshooter,” Keith’s voice was filled with malice. He gave an arm sweep gesturing to the rest of the arena before snarling, “There is dried blood and evidence of recent fights everywhere. You leave and you are condemning whoever is still in there.” Lance let his arms fall, Pidge and Keith were both right. But they don’t know anything, whos to say they won’t lose and end up being the next people to spill blood in here. “You made a big deal about taking the lives of rabbits for food, then you didn’t hesitate about killing gnolls in self-defense. So what's in there Lance? Rabbits or gnolls?” With that, Keith left the speechless boy and headed for the gate, Pidge right on his tail.   
  
The gate was closed by a rusted metal portcullis. Inside, they could see the operating lever was rusted and broken. Keith grabbed at the lower metal gate, attempting to lift it. Pidge joined in but wasn’t much help. The gate slowly lifted higher and higher, Hunk and Lance were standing to each of their sides. “Pidge,” Hunk squeaked out. “Once it's high enough to not hurt yourself, crawl under and pull the lever.   
  
“Okay,” she said letting go of the metal and waiting. She hoped it could be a little higher, but she saw the boys were struggling. Barely making it under the sharp spikes, she felt the now dulled edges scraping against her shirt. “Alright,” she said once she was fully through. She heard the gate drop and panting behind her. The lever was surprisingly easy to move, ‘Probably because it was used recently,’ she thought. The gate made loud grinding noises as it rose higher and higher.   
  
“If they didn’t hear us arguing, they definitely heard that,” Lance commented, wincing at the noise as they walked through, meeting up with Pidge.  
  
As if in response or just to prove a point, the halls rang out with a hideous screech. One all too familiar. It was nearly identical to what they heard on Shiro’s recording. The group stood petrified, staring down the dark hallway, somewhere, a void monster was waiting for them. Keith was first to regain his composure, summoning his weapon and summoning a low flame in his other hand. He stepped forward, eyeing the others, giving them one last chance to change their mind. Lance stepped beside him, his bow emanating a soft blue light. Pidge and Hunk readied their weapons and stepped forward. “There is no shame in running if things get to be too much,” Keith spoke in a low voice, then began walking down the dark corridor. Thick plant roots broke through the ceiling, but they looked to be cut, probably for allowing easier passage.  
  
Either side of the hall contained empty prison cells. Some contained the remnants of stale food crumbs, others smelled of excrement. “These cells were used recently,” Keith whispered, staring into a nearby cell. He continued down the hall but the blue light didn’t follow. He turned around in time to see Lance opening an unlocked cell and entering it. “Lance?” A moment later he emerged with something in his hand.   
  
Lance slowly approached Keith, his bow illuminating his sorrowful eyes. Once he got to his knight, he opened his hand, revealing a scrap of cloth. Keith’s eyes went wide, recognizing the colors. “It’s part of a Garrison uniform. The gold stripe represents this person was a Knight,”  Lance explained to the others, pocketing it. Hunk took a sharp inhale at Lance’s explanation.   
  
“They were here,” Pidge mumbled. She glanced back to the cells, imagining them once filled. But if they are empty that must mean…... “No...please no…” she pleaded. Hunk wrapped his arms around her, bringing her in for a hug.  
  
“It’s going to be fine, Pidge. Maybe they are in another part of this place,” Hunk soothed her, rubbing circles along her back.  
  
“Uwwwwwoooooooggggg!!!!!” the void creature screeched again, but this time it was much closer, maybe only a few rooms away.   
  
Pidge pulled away from Hunk, a new determination washing over her. She gripped her katar, glaring daggers into the darkness. “I’ll kill that bastard,” she spat between clenched teeth.  
  
“No, you won’t!” Keith snapped at her. “You are an inexperienced fighter and if you think or act differently you’re going to get yourself killed.” Pidge turned her glare to Keith, but she knew he was right. She relaxed her grip and loosened her tense body in a show of defeat. Keith glanced up at Hunk saying, “Both of you do exactly what Lance and I tell you. No ‘buts’, no ‘hesitations’, no ‘arguing’, is that clear?”  
  
“Yes,” they both agreed simultaneously. Keith looked to Lance who wore his signature cocky grin, giving a sharp nod. They left their bags and anything cumbersome to the impending fight in the prison before they ventured further down the hall.  
  
Keith’s heart was pounding so loud he feared the monster would hear it. What terrified him most was how his gut twisted. Everyone always told him he had great instincts, and right now those instincts were saying something was wrong, very very wrong. He turned the corner to another dark hallway. In the middle of the wall, the light illuminated the outline of a door. Without hesitation, Keith approached the door. Waiting only long enough to make sure the others were with him, he turned the knob, bursting into the room.  
  
The room looked like some sort of laboratory. Examination tables lined the back wall and to the side were giant tubes filled with a glowing liquid. To the other side, there were tables filled with different medical instruments. In the center of the room a figure stood, wearing long purple robes that completely covered their features and a white mask with four glowing yellow eyes. Next to them on the ground was a dark shadowy creature. The robed figure watched the intruders enter the room, speaking, “Kill them,” before it disappeared into nothing.   
  
The shadowy creature let out a growl, standing to its full eight-foot height and turned to face its prey. This void monster was humanoid, two arms, two legs, and glowing yellow eyes. Its entire body was covered in a darkness that danced like fire. It opened its mouth, screeching before charging with alarming speed.   
  
“SPREAD OUT!” Keith shouted, causing his team to run in different directions before the monster reached them. It quickly turned and pursued Keith. The fire mage urged his fire larger and launched it at the creature. It swerved to the side, avoiding the magic, but it didn’t avoid the bolt and arrow aimed at its back. It stumbled forward but didn’t stop its chase. It swung its fist at Keith, who blocked it easily, but before he could counter-attack it threw another punch and another. Its movements were only slowed slightly by the barrage of arrows hitting it. Keith continued to dodge, waiting for an opening. Keith’s body started moving on its own. It was like a familiar dance, dodging before the move was made. He’d done this before, these exact moves, but how…. Fear ran through every fiber of Keith’s body when he made the connection. It was sparring. He used to do it time after time with… He blocked the next punch, starting into those glowing yellow eyes and whispering, “Shiro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See told ya stuff was gonna happen! I finished this chapter the other night as was like "I get to relax then go to sleep early". I crawled into bed, took out my tablet and instantly started writing the next chapter. It's exciting because I feel like between this chapter and next I'm finally out of my prologue. Did I mention this is going to be along ass fic?


	11. Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge conversed over their lack of information they obtained in the town. While stopping for lunch they were told a story of the nearby forest by a friendly waitress. They headed off to the forest to investigate the manor that lies in the heart. While in the manor they encountered a shadow monster that instantly attacked them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to be a good writer and not slip in any video game references in this chapter. It's shorter than the last couple monster chapters, but I'm happy with how it came out. I like my bi weekly update schedule and I think this works for me. Heads up, I'll be at NYCC next weekend so no idea if I'll have time to write, or maybe I'll have an abundance of time while waiting in lines for panel. So next chapter could be delayed.
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

“Shiro,” Keith whispered, staring into glowing yellow eyes. Another arrow hit it; this time it lost its footing and tumbled to its side. “LANCE STOP!” Keith yelled desperately at his partner.

“Stop?! Are you insane?!” Lance called back but held his next arrow.

“I think that thing is Shiro!” Keith yelled again, watching the creature get back to its feet and charge once more.

“Okay yeah, you are insane!” Lance yelled and released the arrow. It flew through the air, hitting the creature’s foot, causing it to stumble forward and break its charge. “And what makes you think this thing is Shiro?!” Lance shouted. 

“It fights like Shiro. These moves, Shiro taught them to me!” Keith responded, continuing to avoid and parry its attacks, and whenever he was too slow Lance’s arrow would hit the creature’s arm or leg to slow it down.

“Let's say it is Shiro-!” Hunk called out, his crossbow loaded but aimed at the floor.

“It IS Shiro! I know it is! Trust me!” Keith screamed to Hunk, interrupting him. Everything in his body was telling him this thing was, no IS Shiro.

Lance ground his teeth together, “Trust me” he said. If this wasn’t a life or death situation, he would have reminded Keith about his dagger and continued their argument from earlier. However, it was a life or death situation, so Lance swallowed his pride and called out, “Fine it’s Shiro. Then what’s the plan?!”

“I don’t know!” Keith yelled, ducking under another punch and rolling to the side.

“Hunk, how long can you hold you stone skin armor for?” Lance asked his friend, while he continued to impair the monster’s assault.

“I don’t know. I’ve never needed to use it for more than a minute,” Hunk responded nervously.

“Then go find out, try to buy Keith sometime. He can’t dodge forever,” Lance said. He released another arrow, using less power than normal to not hurt Shiro. It hit into Shiro’s wrist, knocking his arm off course and away from Keith’s face.

Hunk was a pacifist; he never wished harm on any person, no matter what they did. The friends he had growing up used to call him a coward for worrying too much and never tagging along when they wanted to do a dangerously stupid thing. They had since drifted apart, but Hunk did agree with them; he was a coward. However, he made a promise to Keith; he would listen without fail to any instruction he or Lance told him. Hunk’s flight or fight response was screaming at him to run, to hide somewhere and hope for the best. He may be a coward and he may be a pacifist, but that's only because he loves people and doesn’t want to see them hurt, especially his friends. The earth mage summoned all his magic, hardening his skin to rock and ran. He ran straight at the void Shiro.

Hunk’s charge caught the creature off guard as he crashed into it, knocking to the floor. Hunk took the opportunity to jump on top of it, pinning it to the ground. Lance ran next to a panting Keith. He dismissed his weapon and conjured healing water, covering different parts of Keith before moving to another. The one downside to healing was he needed the use of both hands. “This should help with your exhaustion,” Lance explained, as he worked. Keith thanked him, but his eyes were still fixated on Shiro. “Keith, we need a plan or someone is going to die,” Lance pleaded.

“I don’t know,” Keith choked out.

“THAT IS SHIRO!” Pidge screamed out. Lance and Keith jolted to the sound of her voice. They saw her across the room on a computer. “He was experimented on. Whoever is behind this tried to corrupt him with a voidling! It apparently worked, but this was only a couple of days ago! Maybe the effects aren’t permanent yet! I’ll keep looking!”

“Great, now we know Shiro was turned into a shadow fiend. How do we stop him? You were always top marks in class. What did they say?” The panic in Lance’s voice was starting to show through.

“Kill them. That's all the Garrison every taught!” Keith answered in frustration, not taking his eyes off Shiro.

“That doesn’t help!” Lance yelled, his hands moving faster rejuvenating as much of Keith as he could.

“Guys, hurry up. Not sure I can hold him much longer,” Hunk grunted as Shiro continued to struggle. A low guttural growl came from Shiro. His body began to spark as electricity flickered over his shadowy form. “Oh no,” Hunk whispered. His eyes widened at the sight of the now purple lighting covering Shiro’s entire body. With a loud roar, Shiro discharged the lighting, blasting Hunk off of him.

Keith grabbed Lance’s arm and ran, dragging him as far as he could before Shiro got up. “The fuck was that!?” Lance scream as he was being pulled away.

“Shiro is an air mage, remember?! He can use lighting magic!” Keith answered, releasing Lance’s arm so he could turn and parry a blow from Shiro. However, before Shiro could get close enough to them, Lance coated the floor in front of Shiro with water, causing him to slip and crash back to the hard floor.

“How do you guys deal with rifts?!” Hunk yelled from across the room where he landed, slowly getting up and rubbing his head.

“We have a device that does stuff!” Lance called back. “Pidge, you don’t happen to know how it works do you!?”

“Of course I do! The theory behind it-” Pidge stopped herself, realizing she didn’t have time for an actual explanation of the theory. “It’s a bright light! To get rid of a shadow you shine a light on it! So the device emits a really bright light!” She would have to sit and explain the full theory to them one day, but now wasn’t that day.

“Guessing there’s nothing in there about a giant flashlight!” Hunk yelled, getting up and heading back into the fight.

“Flashlight….?” Lance repeated out loud. He was too consumed in thought to notice Shiro getting back up and flinging a lightning bolt directly at him. Keith crashed into Lance, knocking them both to the floor, out of the way of being electrocuted.

“What are you doing?! Are you trying to get killed?!” Keith shouted from above Lance, their faces only inches apart.

“You’re a flashlight!” Lance exclaimed wide-eyed, slapping his hands on Keith’s cheeks.

“What are you talking about?” Keith scoffed, breaking free of Lance’s hands and rolling off him to prepare for another attack.

“Your fire magic! It creates light! Make a really big light!” Lance ordered while scrambling back to his feet.

“I don’t think-” Keith was cut short, dodging out of the way of a nasty kick.

“Hunk! Help me hold Shiro down while Keith creates a big enough fire!” Lance screamed before jumped onto Shiro's back, wrapping his arms around his neck, and legs around his torso.

“Lance, no!” Keith gasped, watching Shiro stumble backward as Lance pulled up on his neck.

“Remember it just needs to be bright, not hot!” Lance yelled while holding on for dear life as Shiro reached around to pry him off.

“It might work! So unless you have a better idea, listen to Lance!” Pidge called from across the room.

Keith took a deep breath, dismissed his weapon, and began channeling all his magic into his hands. A small flame started to grow, bigger and bigger, as he focused all his effort on this all-or-nothing idea. He tried to ignore the grunts from Shiro, but hearing Lance cry out in pain, he knew he needs to hurry. Keith pushed more energy into the flame, but instead of it growing, the flame began to flicker and almost go out. ‘Shit no,’ he thought to himself. ‘Focus Keith, Focus’ he shut his eyes remembering back to the Garrison. Remembering Shiro smiling and laughing at Keith’s lack of restraint, and reminding him‘ Patience yields focus.’

“I got him!” Hunk called, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s right arm and planting his feet firmly on the ground. Hearing Hunk enter the fray allowed Keith to let out a breath and focus on a steady channeling of his magic.

‘Just a little more,’ Keith told himself, pushing his magic’s limit further than before. Shiro cried out in pain. Keith opened his eyes, seeing his flame towering over his head. He tore his eyes away from the flame. Lance was still wrapped around Shiro’s back and Hunk held his right arm. Shiro’s other arm stopped trying to pry Lance off, instead using it to shield his face. Keith pressed his magic further and as the light grew Shiro’s cries became direr.

“It’s working!” Hunk yelled. “Keep it up, Keith!” With one final push, Keith tightly shut his eyes again and put everything he had into his flame. It’s blinding light covered every inch of the room. In one final, desperate attempt, Shiro cried out, discharging another wave of purple lightning through his body. Lance screamed in pain as his body was electrocuted, his limbs unable to hold on as he crashed to the ground. “LANCE!” Hunk roared, gripping Shiro’s arm as tightly as he could. The electricity didn’t seem to have any effect on him. It was only when Shiro’s cried stopped that Keith canceled his magic, stumbling to his knees. When he opened his eyes the whole room was spinning, the lights which had been reasonable before, now too bright for his eyes. He closed them again, trying to regain his composure.

“LANCE!!” Pidge screamed, sounding terrified. Her footsteps echoed louder in Keith’s now pounding head as she ran across the room.

“Lance, buddy wake up!” Hunk cried in panic.

Keith forced his eyes open again, ignoring the bright, spinning room and focusing only on the three blurry figures. Soon enough, he was able to make out Pidge kneeling on the ground next to Hunk, who was cradling a motionless Lance. ‘Oh no!’ he thought, icy fear creeping up his spine and spreading through his body.

A groan slipped from Lance’s mouth as his head rolled onto Hunk’s chest. “Bring him over here!” Pidge yelled, as she quickly stood and ran to the other side of the room, nearly tripping over herself.

Keith let out a sigh of relief, ‘Lance is alive, hurt, but alive and that's all that matters,’ his mind raced. ‘Lance will be okay, Hunk and Pidge are okay…….’ The room wasn't spinning as much, but the thought of standing didn't seem like a good idea.

Keith crawled on his hands and knees to the last figure in the room. Shiro’s unconscious body laid on the floor, the shadows and void that once consumed his body were gone. He was dressed in dirty, torn grey garments, his right arm and leg tucked under the rest of his body. The bits of his exposed skin was covered in small scars. The biggest scar was on the bridge of his nose, stretching from under one eye to the other. Shiro’s once black hair now sported a white tuft, and his face looked ten years older. Keith hovered above him, mesmerized by how different yet the same Shiro looked.

Movement caught Keith's eyes and he looked up to see the trio across the room next to a big tree root that broke through the wall then continued through the floor. Hunk laid Lance on the floor next to it, one hand supporting the back of Lance’s head, the other gripping Lance’s hand in his own. Pidge knelt between Lance and the tree, one hand on the root, the other on his stomach. Keith was too afraid to focus on Shiro. What if this was just another one of his nightmares? What if as soon as he touched Shiro, he would wake up back in the Garrison, alone. He let ignorance get the better of him and continued to watch Pidge, prolonging the dream.

Pidge’s hand on the tree started glowing a light green. It traveled up her arm, across her body, and down the other arm until it touched Lance’s still form. The light pulsed as it made contact, then dispersed throughout his body. Another light formed under her hand, traveling the same route. Once that one dispersed over his body, another followed, and another. With each light that left the root, it began to discolor. The healthy rich brown turned dull, losing all its color until all that was left was white. He remembered what Pidge told him in the Kerberos forest “nature magi can redirect the life force of plants”

Lance's eyes fluttered open. Keith was too far to hear what any of them were saying, but he did hear Lance's loud yelp when he was crushed by Hunk and Pidge’s embrace. After Lance squirmed out of Hunk's bear hug, Hunk turned his head to Keith, calling out, “Lance is okay! How is Shiro?!”

Shiro.

Keith looked down at his friend, his mentor, his brother. Slowly lowering his hand onto Shiro’s cheek, Keith inhaled sharply at the feeling of warmth. He could feel tears building up in the corners of his eyes. “Alive,” Keith croaked out as he lowered his forehead to Shiro’s. This wasn’t a dream, this was real. Keith felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For the first time in a long time, he could finally breathe.

When he lifted his head, he saw Pidge kneeling next to him, waiting. Hunk had Lance’s arm draped over his shoulder as they both approached. “Is he hurt?” Pidge asked, examining Shiro. “If we move him to another area with more trees, I can heal him.”

“No need!” Lance exclaimed, flopping down on the other side of Shiro. He winced slightly, quickly brandishing a fake smile that fooled no one as he rubbed the leg that hit the floor too hard.

“No, Lance,” Hunk scolded, standing over and looking down at his friend. “You’re hurt, let Pidge-”

“Let me stop you there,” Lance interrupted. “I’m not hurt, thanks to Pidge,” he turned to the girl smiling, before returning to Hunk, “And being physically injured doesn’t mean I can’t use mental energy to cast magic. Now shush and let me do this.” He waved a hand dismissively at Hunk before continuing “Let's get him off his side and onto his back.” Hunk rolled his eyes, not sure why he tries with Lance sometimes, before helping the others readjust Shiro.

Once Shiro was rolled off his right arm and leg and onto his back, the group let out a simultaneous gasp. Their eyes started at his right arm, thick black shadows ebbed and flowed from his fingertips to just above his elbow.

“What….?” Pidge managed to get out, leaning closer to the arm.

“Shadows?” Hunk mumbled.

Lance narrowed his eyes at the arm before brandishing his finger and poking the shadow covered limb, quickly retreating it as if expecting something to happen. “What are you doing?!” Keith yelled at the boy. Shiro let out a small groan, but his body remained unmoving.

“Checking?” Lance answered, having no idea what he was checking for.

“Why is his arm still like that?” Hunk spoke up, keeping his distance.

“That's where you were gripping him,” Pidge said. The others looked at the girl who seemed like she had an explanation. Pidge readjusted her glasses, a habit she picked up since she started to wear them. She leaned even further, hovering over the rest of Shiro’s body to get a closer look. “It’s the only area that wasn’t exposed to Keith’s light. Look, the shadows are thicker, denser. I think they retreated to his arm as the only safe place.”

“Oh no,” Hunk’s said with a shaky voice. “This is because of me, I’m so sorry Keith! I-”

Keith shook his head and placed a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, saying, “Hunk, no. If you weren’t holding him I wouldn’t have had time to create that flame. You have nothing to be sorry about.” Hunk smiled at Keith’s words and understanding.

“At least he doesn’t have void brain anymore,” Lance said, interrupting the moment Keith and Hunk were having. “Now it’s just void arm. Maybe he won’t try to kill us anymore unless just his arm wants to kill us. Could that be a thing? His arm having a mind of its own?” Lance continued to ramble, his voice getting louder and more dramatic with each sentence. “What if he has to arm wrestle himself to keep it in check!? And what if he loses to himself and we’re forced to cut off his arm!!” The others just stared at Lance, completely dumbfounded at his logic, or lack thereof. No one really knew how to address Lance, so they didn’t.

“We should find him a place to rest. Maybe there are some bedrooms still intact upstairs we can use,” Hunk suggested, “Once there, Lance can heal him.”

Keith nodded in agreement, “Good idea, Hunk.” He reached under Shiro to pull an arm around his neck, slowly lifting the bigger man. Hunk went to follow suit, but hesitated when he saw the void arm dangling at Shiro’s side.

That moment was all the hesitation needed for Lance to swoop in and wrap the arm around his shoulder. “Nope. No, no, no. No, you don’t. I’m saving Shiro.” He insisted, giving Keith a dirty look.

“Really, Lance?” Hunk grumbled, watching his friend’s legs wobble under the extra weight. Again, Hunk remembered how ineffective arguing with Lance would be, so he just rolled his eyes and stood close to the boy in case his legs gave out.

Keith let out a sigh, shaking his head at the idiot, but proceeding forward. Pidge ran ahead of the group, grabbing an unlit torch from the hallway. She angled it towards Keith who lit it with his magic. He winced, closing his eyes for a moment before reopening them to see concerned amber eyes. “I’m okay. Just mentally drained. I shouldn’t use any more magic until I’m rested,” Keith assured her. That's all she needed to hear, nodding and leading the way to an exposed tree root. She placed her free hand on the root, after making many strange faces she lead them down different hallways until they came to a staircase. It leads them to the first floor, where light enters from broken stained glass windows and exposed holes in the walls.

They made their way around broken floor planks, exposed roots, and structure debris until they found a great staircase leading up to a second floor. Pidge continued leading the way, popping her head into rooms until she found one she liked. “Here,” she called, entering the room. It was a small bedroom, two beds in the center on either side of a window and a closet on one wall. They laid Shiro on one bed, stirring century's worth of dust and making them all enter coughing fits. Once recovered, Lance conjured his healing water and, much like he did to Keith earlier, made his water move in small circles over Shiro’s body and void arm. After he finished, he stumbled backways into Hunk’s arms, who guided him to the second bed, releasing more dust into the air.

“He doesn’t have any physical injuries,” Lance said between coughs from the bed. Keith raised an eyebrow at the comment looking at Shiro’s very noticeable face scar. “Well, ones that I can heal.” Lance corrected himself.

“So what now?” Hunk asked, still hovering over Lance.

“I still need to find my family!” Pidge exclaimed standing at the foot of Shiro’s bed, “I want to go back to the computers and find out what happened here.” She clenched her fists at the thought of what could be waiting for her. “And we need to check for the rest of the crew! They could still be alive somewhere.”

“We still have to worry about that masked person who was with Shiro,” Lance said.

Keith continued to stare at Shiro, his mind still insisting something would go wrong and he’d lose him again. He listened as Pidge tried to contain her anger. “Exactly! That masked freak could be experimenting on them right now! And we’re just sitting around!” She yelled. Her last sentence gained Keith’s attention. “I helped you find Shiro, now it’s your turn.”

Pidge was right, Keith owed it to her, but he wanted to stay with Shiro. He let out a sigh and spoke, “Someone needs to stay with Shiro. In case he wakes up or that masked person….” he trailed off not wanting to finish that sentence. Secretly, selfishly hoping he would be the one to stay.

“I’ll stay with him,” Lance volunteered. “You go keep our little Pidgie safe.” He grinned at Pidge, watching her scowl turn into an eye roll and light-hearted smile. The lightheartedness and smiled left Lance’s face when he looked at Keith. “I promise I’ll keep him safe,” he said with determination.

“You’re not in any condition to look after him,” Keith said, crossing his arms and eyeing Lance up and down.

Hunk spoke up, “Keith’s right. Lance, you lay down for a little while and I’ll look after the both of you.”

“I still don’t feel comfortable. If you’re attacked-,” Keith began to argue.

Hunk cut off Keith’s protest saying, “We can hold off whatever attacks us long enough for you two to get back. You know how loud Lance is, I bet the people of Cyreen could hear him if he screamed.” Lance’s only response was a pout.

“I think you mean the Garrison,” Keith smirked before agreeing, “Alright,” and walking towards the doorway. He stopped to place a hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “Ready?” She nodded and they headed to the door.

“Hunk, I’m fine! Go with them!” Lance tried to convince his friend.

“Nope, you are not fine. You got electrocuted for Spirit's sake,” Hunk said, standing firm that he would not leave his friend.

“So did you! Wait, why aren’t you hurt?” Lance asked raising an eyebrow.

Hunk shrugged and scratched his head. “Ummm..when you told me to use my magic to help Keith, I think I pushed myself and used a new ability. I didn’t harden my skin but turn it to rock

Pidge was out the door, but her eyes lit up. She did everything in her power to force down her curiosity of Hunk’s new magic in order to search for her family. As she and Keith ventured back to the stairwell, they could still hear Lance pouting and whining. Keith made sure to check the surrounding rooms for any threats or danger. The only danger he found was a rotten plank of wood he nearly fell through.

Once they got to the first floor, he did a similar search of the rooms near the stairs. Pidge was growing impatient, so he eventually stopped his search. The two took the same route down to the basement, Pidge still holding the lit torch and lighting any unlit torches on their way. They retraced their steps to the room they found Shiro in. Once they entered Pidge ran straight to the computer she used previously. She frowned upon reaching it and looked around. Not seeing what she was looking for she smacked the monitor.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked as he approached her.

“Thing is dead.” She said and glared at the blank screen, “I think Shiro’s lighting fried it.”

Keith looked to the spot they fought Shiro. It was a good way across the room. “Shiro was too far. How could his lighting reach over here?” He said. 

Pidge shrugged, “Thing is fried. Not sure how this place is wired. It could have hit something underground and traveled.” There were two other computers in the vicinity. Pidge checked both and each time she let out a sigh in despair, “Dead.”

Keith continued to watch her, finally saying, “This doesn’t feel right.”

Pidge didn’t want to argue, she just wanted information. Leaving the computers, she headed towards Keith tugging his arm when in reach and looking at the ground. “Let’s go check the prison cells again, and the rooms on the other side.”

“Pidge,” Keith spoke softly, “I can’t cast any more magic. That includes the initial spell to activate my soul weapon. And we’re short two people.” He paused, feeling her grip tighten. Her head was still tilted towards the ground. “Let’s get our bags and head back to the others. We can search more once we’re rested,” he finished. Not saying a word, she released her grip and headed to the doorway. Keith followed closely, letting his eyes roam the dimly lit halls.

They didn’t speak until reaching the prisons and their discarded packs. “I hate not knowing,” Pidge spoke up, gripping the top of her bag. “I hate being so weak. If I was stronger we could keep searching.”

“You’re not weak, just inexperienced. If you want, I can teach you to fight,” Keith said, walking to his pack.

Pidge let out a yell, kicking the nearest thing to her, Hunk’s pack. It toppled over from the force, contents spilling across the floor. “Shit,” Pidge cursed, trying to gather everything back up. Keith knelt beside her, helping her gather Hunk’s things. Something caught his eye, he reached for the device Hunk used to find the void zone, the frown hopper or something Hunk called it.

“Hey, Pidge,” he called to her, “How do you turn this thing on?” She looked up at him and took the device. With a flick of a switch, it turned on, the needle going haywire and making a low humming noise. “Um….what does that mean?” Keith asked.

“It’s picking up some sort of void energy,” Pidge said, looking up at him.

“Could it be Shiro?” Keith asked.

“No, it’s closer. Let’s tell the others.” Pidge finished repacking Hunk’s bag but held onto the device. Once they exited the prison, Pidge swept the device through the air, watching the needle jump higher once facing a different hallway. “It’s down there,” she pointed. Keith nodded, and they turned away to head back upstairs but stopped when they heard a loud whimper. They froze and stared at each other. It was coming from the hallway the device pointed too.

Again they heard a whimper, louder this time, followed by a voice. “Help me.”


	12. Juniberry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Keith realized the void monster instructed to kill them was actually Shiro. With the help of Lance, Pidge, and Hunk, they were able to turn Shiro back to normal. Lance and Hunk stayed behind with Shiro as Keith and Pidge investigated the basement in hopes of finding some clues about Pidge's family and the rest of the Kerberos crew. Keith and Pidge were just about to call it quits when they heard a voice calling for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got sick from the con last weekend and cause my body is stupid I'm still sick. Yay!! So speaking about NYCC.....Let talk about the Voltron poster and Keith and Lance totally not subtly holding hands. I may or may not have squealed when I saw it. >.> <.<
> 
> Anyway.....New chapter! Yay!! I meant to post it earlier but my bed was too tempting. Maybe by chapter 30 I'll have a better schedule with an actual time and date.....Nah, that's not fun. 
> 
> Last but not least, Thank you to everyone who commented last chapter. The positive feedback made my day, scratch that, make my week. Much love to you all!!!
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

There was a large field of grass stretching as far as the eye could see. Beautiful mountains stood far in the distance and the sky was a brilliant blue, empty of any clouds. It was a breathtaking landscape. Lance inhaled the crisp air before noticing a couple walking together hand in hand. The man had dark skin with light blue hair and the woman fair skin with short blonde hair. They both had strange crescents shapes under their eyes and pointed ears. His crescents were a light orange that matched his orange and blue eyes. And her marks were a dark blue, matching her dark blue and green eyes.

Lance felt awkward staring, but he had never seen anyone like these two before. They continued to walk hand in hand, ignoring his presence. “I love the smell of freshly bloomed Juniberries,” the woman said, kneeling down to pick a flower. It had three long triangular shaped purple petals, the pistil was yellow and the stigma resembled a triton. Lance looked around, suddenly noticing the grassy field was now covered in these flowers.

She took a deep inhale of the flower’s scent before speaking again, “It smells even better when you’re with the one you love.” The man knelt beside her. They locked eyes and smiled fondly at one another. He broke the gaze to look at her hands as he took them into his.

“Alanna,” he spoke, “I fear for our future.”

“Oh, Silgrwyn. You worry too much, the High Alchemist will take care of us.” She leaned into his side allowing his arm to wrap around her and pull her close.

“I hope you are right,” he whispered. They laid together, taking in the moment before Silgrwyn spoke again, “I have a present for you, my love.” They pulled apart enough for him to reach into his pocket and reveal a necklace. Something urged Lance closer to get a better look at it. Silgrwyn held the end of a long silver chain, at the base hung a round pendant with the image of a crescent moon.

Alanna gasped, slowly reaching out for it. “It’s beautiful. Is it…..”

“Yes,” he answered before she could finish her question. Lance watched him hold the pendant, pressing the center of the crescent like a button and turning the base three times. The pendant unfolded its edges revealing a small blue light that projected a scene in the air. It was the same field they were sitting in, the same couple held each other closely and began dancing together.

“This was the night you asked for my hand. It was the happiest day of my life,” she said, touching the pendant and making it return to its original state.

“Mine too,” he said, taking the necklace and placing it around her neck. She absentmindedly began to touch it with her hands, suddenly stopping and looking up, locking eyes with Lance. Her eyes widened and her smile twisted into something wicked. She opened her mouth releasing a screech that woke him from the dream.

Lance shot up out of bed, startling the dust and Hunk. His heart was pounding; he was afraid it was going to burst through his chest. A cold chill traveled up his spine, causing him to shiver. “Whoah. Take it easy there. Are you alright?” Hunk asked, placing his hands on Lance’s arms.

Lance’s eyes darted around the room, remembering where he was. He looked at Shiro who was still asleep, then to Hunk. “It was a dream,” he spoke. “Hunk, how long was I asleep for?” he rushed the question.

“Not that long, twenty minutes, maybe thirty. You okay?” Hunk answered, leaning closer to his friend and rubbing his arms lightly.

“I don’t know,” Lance answered honestly, “They still aren’t back yet?” Hunk shook his head. “Hunk buddy, I need you to listen to me. I need you to go find them,” he said with as much authority as he could muster.

“Lance….” Hunk leaned back, speaking like a parent who was about to lecture their child.

“No, Hunk seriously. I just have this weird feeling. Please, go make sure they’re okay.” Lance plead, hoping Hunk would listen.

Hunk eyed him sideways, “You know if I leave you and Shiro, Keith isn’t going to be happy.”

“Keith is never happy. Now please go!” Lance’s voice wavered.

Hunk wanted to press Lance further, find out why he thought they were in trouble and if he was even alright enough be left alone. But he didn’t, he trusted his friend. Hunk gave Lance a pat on the shoulder before leaving him alone with Shiro. Lance smiled as Hunk left the room. Once alone he gripped his hand around his upper left arm, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath before asking, “Do you know what that was?”

Hunk got to the bottom of the staircase when he felt the whole house shake. “Oh no,” he breathed and rushed to find his friends.

 

***

 

“Help me”

It only took a second for Keith and Pidge to register what they heard before dropping the packs, grabbing their weapons and racing towards the voice. Hunk’s void detector was going crazy, letting out a loud humming noise. They continued down the hall, seeing an open doorway and headed inside without a care for their safety.

The room was dark, a single flame in the back of the room was all the light in the room. On the floor leaning against something was a figure. “Help me,” it sobbed. The voice was soft and feminine.

“Don’t worry, help is here,” Keith called, quickly approaching the figure. She was hunched over, her back to Keith.

“They took him,” the woman sobbed again.

Keith kneeled beside the woman placing his hand on her shoulder. “Took who?” he asked. Pidge hurried over, shining the torch light onto the figure and illuminating the purple robe.

“KEITH, GET AWAY!!” Pidge screeched in terror.

Keith recognized the robe; he stood, trying to get away in time but he was too slow. The woman turned her head to him, four glowing yellow eyes illuminated in the light “MY CHAMPION!” she screeched, placing her palm on his chest before unleashing a dark pulse that sent him flying across the room, crashing into something hard.

“KEITH!” Pidge screamed, racing to his side and helping him up.

The masked woman began cackling as she rose from the ground. “You took my Champion! Now I’ll just have to use you in my next experiment!” She lifted her arms into the air, causing the room to come to life. Lights lit up the once dark room, allowing Keith and Pidge to quickly survey their surroundings. Giant tubes filled with bubbling purple liquid stood in rows; suspended inside were dormant voidlings. One wall was lined with cages, the bottom row stained with blood, while the higher rows contained more voidlings and shadow fiends. The light caused the now void transformed boars, raccoons, and other unrecognizable animals to screech and tear at the bars.

Pidge looked up at what Keith crashed into, it was a tube filled with that strange purple liquid but instead of a void creature inside, it was a person. She felt a lump in her throat as she scanned the person. It was a man, clearly dead and partially decayed. He was naked, body lined with scars and missing his left arm and right leg below the knee. She felt terrible with herself when she was relieved it wasn’t her father or brother.

“Pidge, focus!” Keith called, bringing her back to their current situation.

“Are you also from the Garrison?” The masked woman asked, tilting her head unnaturally far to the side. “They were more fun to play with,” she continued, snapping her head upright. Without allowing an answer she stretched her arm out, another pulse of shadow emanated from her palm. Keith grabbed Pidge, throwing themselves out of the way. The dark pulse crashed into the tube with the cadaver, shattering it and spilling the strange liquid all over the floor.

“The villagers screamed more, but after half a year you garrison lot made the most wondering pleas and cried,” she said, staring over the body now on the floor. Without warning, Keith lunged with a battle cry, dagger in hand, aimed right at this woman’s heart. A heartbeat before his dagger would have made contact, she disappeared, leaving only purple smoke. He stumbled forward, unsure of what just happened.

“Ahh!” Pidge cried from behind him, Keith instantly turned around. The woman was now next to Pidge, grabbing the young girl by the arm and asked, “Where are you from, child?”

“Fuck off!” Pidge yelled, thrusting her hand with the torch into the side of the masked woman’s head. Immediately the woman dropped her grip to grasp her badly burnt face, screaming in pain. Using this opportunity, Pidge thrust her now free weapon into the woman. Her katar meeting skin, causing more screams and the woman to disappear again, leaving only purple smoke. Pidge snapped her head to Keith before yelling to him, “This bitch can teleport! And she’s not using elemental magic! It’s something else!”

Keith nodded in acknowledgment and began scanning the room for her. The woman was standing in the back of the room, one hand on her stomach wound the other covering her burn. She was laughing again. 

“I didn’t think you would be this much fun. It’s only fair I let my babies join in,” she snickered, then let out three waves of dark energy through the room, causing the room to tremble. It knocked Pidge and Keith to the floor, shattered some of the tubes, and caused the cages to topple over, killing some of the void monsters but releasing the rest.

Pidge and Keith’s eyes widened in terror as a boar covered in shadows, with four tusks, charged straight at them. “RUN! Get into the hall!” Keith cried, getting to his feet and running for the door. Pidge made it into the hallway first, watching Keith round the door, followed by the boar. It was charging so fast it didn’t have time to stop before crashing into the wall. Keith quickly thrust his dagger into its skull, killing it instantly.

“Keith, hurry!” Pidge called. In their initial rush to get to the voice calling for help, Pidge hadn’t bothered to light the way. Something they were both regretting very much as they ran through the darkness being chased by a horde of void monsters. Something caught up to them, sinking its teeth into the back of Pidge’s leg. She let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground.

Keith halted his run and turned to where he assumed she would be but all he saw was darkness. He remembered back to the Garrison, to his magic control class. Remembering the teacher’s warning echoing in his head, “Just as you know your physical limits, you need to learn your magical limits. If you try to cast even the simplest of spell once you’re magically exhausted it can have physical repercussions.” Keith shook the voice out of his head as he focused all his energy into creating a fireball. 

As soon as the fire illuminated the hall, he felt as if his head was just cracked open. The pulsing pain caused him to stumble, but he needed to help Pidge. Only a few feet away, a shadow fiend, of what Keith could only assume was once a fox, had its teeth deep into Pidge’s calf, trying to drag the girl back into the room. Keith’s head was still pounding, making it hard to focus, but due to the close proximity, he didn’t have to focus much on his target. He threw the fireball at the creature, setting it ablaze and causing it to withdraw its teeth from Pidge’s leg. It retreated away from them and crashed into another creature, causing the flame to spread. Keith reached forward, grabbing Pidge by the arm and forcing her to her feet before turning and running back down the hall, refusing to let go of her. It was slightly illuminated from the burning shadow fiends behind them, allowing them to see the corner before smashing into it. 

Pidge was stifling whimpers on every other step and Keith needed to squint to help calm the hallway’s swaying motion. As they rounded the corner, he felt something dripping from his nose on to his upper lip. Using his backhand he wiped it away, leaving a red smear on his hand. He cursed to himself at the sight of his blood.

“Pidge! Keith!” a voice called to them. They saw Hunk standing in the lit hallway. “What’s goin-”

“VOID MONSTERS!” Pidge screamed, cutting him off. As if on cue, a bird with four wings covered in shadows emerged from around the corner, diving straight for them.

“BIRD!!!” Hunk yelled and pointed, quickly getting his crossbow ready. Keith stopped running, dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around Pidge, forcing her down with him. He ignored her cries of pain, pushing her head as low to the ground as she would let him, lowering his head as well. The bird flew right over them, smashing into the ground, snapping its neck. Its limp body bounced and landed at Hunk’s feet. Hunk, who just a few days ago would have been freaking out by what he saw, keep his sights trained straight ahead; his weapon ready and aimed at whatever else was lurking on the other side of the hall. 

“Get behind me!” Hunk ordered.

Not waiting for Pidge to get up on her own, Keith wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her and carrying her over his shoulder until he was next to Hunk, before he put her down.

“That was your only free pass, Kogane,” Pidge said, glaring at Keith and adjusting her stance around her injury. Keith smirked, if she was still able to joke then she was fine. He took a deep, breath trying to calm his still throbbing head. As soon as he released the breath, more shadow fiends rounded the corner.

Hunk opened fire, killing some and injuring others. The few that reached them were quickly dispatched by Keith and Pidge. Once the last fiend was taken care of, Keith yelled, “We need to get out of here!” No one argued, they all turned and ran down the hall, desperate to get away.

The maddening cackle of the masked woman echoed through the hall. She appeared in a purple smoke, yards ahead of them. “Leaving so soon?” she asked, causing the trio to stop abruptly. Behind them, more shadow fiends were rounding the corner.

“Guys! Who is that?” Hunk said, the panic abundant in his voice.

The mask prevented them from seeing her eyes, but by the way her head turned, it seemed as if she was staring at Hunk. “Another toy I can play with?” she asked in a childlike manner.

“I think that's the crazy bitch that messed with Shiro!” Pidge yelled in response to Hunk.

“Let's discuss that later,” Keith interrupted, “We still need to get out of here.”

“You're not going anywhere after what you did to my babies!” she screeched, her words filled with malice and anger. She stretched her palm out in front of her, creating a dark swirl that was rapidly growing.

Keith frantically looked down the hall; there were four nearby doors. Two in front of them and two a bit further behind. There wasn't time to check what laid behind each one. On instinct, Keith picked the door behind and across from them to point to while yelling, “There!”

Hunk and Pidge knew exactly what he was thinking. Hunk grabbed his friend's wrists and ran full force, slamming the full weight of his body against the door. The door burst into splitters, crumbling from the impact. In hindsight, a lot less force would have been sufficient on this five-hundred-year-old door.

The three tumbled into the room, crashing to the ground hard as they heard the pulse of dark magic release behind them, followed by the screams of dying shadow fiends caught in the crossfire. Keith rolled off of Hunk just as familiar purple smoke appeared above him. Before he had a moment to react a hand reached forward, gripping his neck and slamming his head back to the ground, letting out a grunt in pain. His head was pounding so much he couldn’t see straight or think clearly, forgetting about the dagger he held, instead, reaching to pry her hand off. 

The masked woman spoke. “I'm going to enjoy---,” she hissed, tightening her grip and leaning closer. She was only inches from Keith’s face, if she hadn’t been wearing a mask, he would have felt her breath on his face. “hearing you scre-” she cut herself off and loosened her grip. This time when she spoke it was barely audible, “You've come back to us.”

“Get off him!” Pidge screamed as she lunged at the woman, knocked her off Keith and to the ground. He took a deep breath, gasping for air. Pidge thrust her Katar into the robes meeting flesh, pulling back and thrusting again but her wrist was caught before she could make contact.

“You aren't worth keeping alive!” the woman yelled, darkness gathering around her free hand. Pidge reached her other hand to grip it and angle the magic away from her or her friends.

“I’m worth a lot more than you!” Pidge spat, grappling with the woman under her. She ground her teeth, pressing forward, ignoring the pain in her leg. Pidge was smaller and probably weaker, but this woman had sustained enough injuries that Pidge could hold her own, or not. The woman began giggling manically, slowly bending herself upright and off the ground, pushing Pidge further off her.

“Pidge!” Hunk cried, stumbling to his feet, “Hang on!” Hunk’s panicked cry snapped Keith out of his daze. He gripped his dagger tightly, springing to his feet and lunging at the woman. His dagger pierced her robes, impaling her just below her ribs. She released a scream of pain louder than anything they had ever heard. Twisting in Pidge’s hold, doing anything to get away from the dagger. Keith tried to pull the dagger out to thrust again but it was stuck, embedded in the woman, it began vibrating in his hand as her screams grew louder.

All at once, the screams suddenly stopped. Keith didn’t feel any resistance on his dagger and Pidge let out a gasp as she fell to the floor. They heard a clank as the mask and robes fell to the ground. Hunk made his way to the two, looked back and forth between them hoping for answers. Keith pulled off the robes that gathered on his dagger. The blade was pulsing a light purple color. “We really need to have a talk about that dagger,” Pidge spoke up. 

“Is she…..” Hunk trailed off, prodding the bundled robes with his boot.

“Let’s find out,” Pidge answered, grabbing and throwing the robes into the air. There was no body, not even the slightest hint one should have been there. Only the mask and a round, metal cylinder remained.

“What’s that?” Hunk asked, reaching for the cylinder. It was only about an inch and a half in diameter and half the thickness. He turned it over in his hand to inspect it further but it was quickly snatched away by Pidge.

“Let me see,” she demanded.

“Hey!” Hunk protested, reaching out for it.

“Seriously?!” Keith snapped at them, “Put that away. Hunk, go check if any more void monsters are out there!”

“M-me?” Hunk stutter, his eyes growing in fear.

“Yes, you. You’re the only one who isn’t hurt,” Keith spat, glaring at him.

Hunk stared at the open threshold, taking a deep breath as he inched himself towards it, popping only enough of his head out to see down the hall. Along the walls were splatters of blood and the floor was littered with dead shadow fiends, most of them missing one or more limbs. Hunk jerked his head back into the room and backed away from the door. “There is a lot of corpses.”

Pidge looked up from her stolen goods and said, “If there was any more they probably would have found us by now.” Keith nodded in agreement, regretting the motion immediately as he shut his eyes tightly and placing a hand to his temples. “Keith?” Pidge asked in concern.

“I’ll be okay. Let’s get back to Lance and Shiro,” he spoke in a low tone.

“Pidge, do you need me to carry you?” Hunk offered as he made his way to the girl. She gritted her teeth and nodded silently, putting away her weapon and pocketing the object. The bigger man walked in front of her and bent down offering his back. “Get on.” Pidge did what she was told, climbing onto his back and wrapping her arms around his neck. He approached Keith, letting Pidge’s good leg dangle as he reached his hand out. Keith resheathed his still glowing dagger then grabbed the mask, securing it to his belt. He reached for Hunk’s hand and was pulled to his feet. The sudden motion left him stumbling forward but was stopped by Hunk’s grip.

“Hold on to me while we walk,” Hunk said with a smile.

“Okay,” Keith agreed, remembering not to needlessly jostle his head.

The three slowly made their way out of the room and down the hall to their packs. They looked at the four bags, before deciding to leave them and make Lance go back for them later. The pace out of the basement was a slow one; whenever Keith tried to speed it up, he instantly regretted it. He spent more of the time with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths. The good thing about their slow pace was how little noise they made. If there was anything else waiting for them it would be difficult for it to hear them. After a while, they finally made it to the first floor and soon enough they had climbed the stairs to the second floor where Lance and Shiro waited for them.

They just had to make it down half a hallway and they were there. Hunk was so relieved, he didn’t question or notice the puddle of water he stepped in. The soft splash jerked Keith out of his meditation. It was hard to think but he knew exactly what that water was. He yelled, “Lance, it’s us!” just as they reached the room. Keith’s sudden outburst caused Hunk to stop briefly before slowly turning into the room.

Lance was crouched on the bed, his soul weapon out, arrow drawn and aimed at the doorway. “Shit,” Lance said, releasing a breath. “Make a little more noise next time will you?!” He dismissed his weapon and hopped off the bed to meet them. “The hell happened?”

“We’ll explain later. Help Keith, and Pidge needs healing,” Hunk said as he made his way to the now empty bed. Shiro was still asleep in the bed they had left him in.

Lance hurried over to Keith, wrapping an arm around his waist and asking, “What happened?” as they made their way to the edge of the bed.

Keith winced at the volume and quietly answered, “I exhausted my magic. Now it feels like my head is about to explode. Kind of wish it did already...” Lance made a quiet chuckle helping Keith to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Let me see if I can help,” Lance spoke in a low, soft whisper. He gently placed his hands on either side of Keith’s head, conjuring his healing magic. Keith closed his eyes as Lance moved his hands in small circles, the chill was a welcome feeling against Keith’s warm skin. Keith relaxed into Lance’s hands, feeling the throbbing slowly dissipate until he was just left with a tolerable headache. Keith was never one for human contact, but he mourned the loss of cool hands when Lance pulled away. He opened his eyes to Lance’s soft smile and bright blue eyes. 

“Better?” Lance asked in the same low, soft voice. Keith responded with a smile and nodded, honestly too exhausted to do more than that. Lance’s smile grew as he spoke once more, “I’m really glad you’re alright.” With that, Lance stood and walked over to Hunk and Pidge at the head of the bed.

“Alright, Pidgey!” Lance exclaimed while clapping his hands together. “Where are Lancey Lance’s magical heal hands needed?” He rubbed his hands together with a dopey grin.

Hunk let out a sigh, shaking his head. Pidge joined him with a groan before pleading, “Never say that again.” Lance let out a chuckle as Pidge extended her injured leg, allowing him to get to work. Keith couldn't help but watch Lance. He did not understand that boy at all, one minute Lance would say something snarky and arrogant at Keith, causing them to fight, and the next he was genuinely concerned for Keith’s well being. At first, Keith was very skeptical when he was partnered up with Lance, but after only a short time he realized they worked really well together and he started trusting Lance with his life.

“All good Pidge-a-roo!” Lance’s voice brought Keith back to the room. “Hunkster, you need anything?” Lance asked, cocking his head to the side.

Hunk laughed at the dumb nickname. “I’m fine, Lance,” he said.

“Good, now that everyone is healed. Someone wanna tell me what the hell happened!?” Lance squawked.

Keith and Pidge alternated telling Lance and Hunk what happened in the basement. Hunk filled in a little of the story once he got there. Keith decided to conveniently leave out the woman’s last words to him.

“Then Keith’s dagger ate her,” Pidge ended the story.

“His dagger….ate her?” Lance repeated in confusion looking to Keith for a better explanation.

“It didn’t eat her!” Keith protested, “It did something to her and she isn’t here anymore.”

Lance cocked an eyebrow, asking in a sarcastic tone, “And I guess we’re still not going to talk about your dagger?”

Keith clenched his teeth, looking away from the others. He still didn’t feel comfortable talking about his dagger with others. “No,” he muttered quietly. Keith could almost hear Lance rolling his eyes.

Hunk spoke up before another argument could ensue, “It’s getting late. Lance, we weren’t able to bring our packs up. Think you can get them?” The sun was beginning to set, orange light seeping in through the windows and filling the room.

Lance let out a sigh, letting the previous conversation drop. “Yeah sure,” he said, running his hand through his hair, “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Sure, sure. Wait...You want me to go back down there?” Hunk’s voice wavered as he spoke.

“Yes, Hunk. How many arms do you think I have?” Lance asked. Hunk knew logically it would be difficult for one person to carry all four bags on their own. And he knew Keith and Pidge needed rest, but he really really didn’t want to go back down into that basement. Unfortunately, he knew he had too.

“Okay..” Hunk mumbled approaching Lance.

“It will be fine, don’t worry about it buddy!” Lance said, smacking Hunk’s back. They headed towards the hall, Lance stopping and turning before leaving the room to say, “Pidge, you’re in charge. Make sure Mullet here gets some rest. If he refuses, you have my permission to shank him.” Pidge allowed a devilish grin to consume her face while Keith just rolled his eyes. “Shiro will probably be out for a while longer, so get some rest.” Lance about faced once again and met up with Hunk in the hall.

Hunk was visibly nervous as they descended the stairs, so Lance started reminiscing about when they used to hang out together as a distraction. Each story made a little more tension melt away. By the time they reached their bags, Lance had told three additional stories about the Garrison. The light-hearted talk made the trip seem faster than it was and before they knew it, they were back at the room.

Keith was passed out on the bed and Pidge sat next to him playing with something. The sun was fully set by now so they passed out what little food remained, eating in silence as to not wake anyone. They agreed, since Keith took up such little space being huddled at the edge of the bed, Pidge would share it with him. Hunk and Lance stripped a couple of beds in the neighboring room and set up on the floor.

 

***

 

Keith woke in the late morning to the soft chatter of voices. He let out a loud groan, stretching his arms and cracking his back.

“That sounded lovely,” Lance joked. “How are you feeling Mullet?”

“Shut the hell up, Lance,” Keith grunted, as he finished working his stiff joints. The others laughed at his comment, even Lance let out a chuckle.

“Sounds like you’re feeling better,” Lance responded with a happy tone. Keith rolled over to the other side of the bed, seeing the trio sitting on the ground, surrounded by blankets and pillows.

Keith grinned at the sight. “Much. I think I’ll need another full night before I’m fully recovered.” He looked around, inspecting them one at a time. “Everyone else okay?” They nodded in acknowledgment.

Pidge reached up, handing something to Keith, “It’s the last of the jerky and, well, our food. We’ll have to get more later.” Keith reached out, grabbing the three pieces. He ate them while listening to the others continue their conversation. Once he finished the last piece his eyes drifted to Shiro. The man was still asleep, body stiff and eyes fluttering. Eyes fluttering?

Shiro let off a small groan that caught everyone’s attention. Keith was the first to scramble to him, nearly stepping on Pidge in the process. “Shiro!?” Keith called over his friend. The rest of the group quickly surrounded the bed as Shiro gave off another low groan, his eyes slowly cracking open. “Shiro,” Keith repeated.

The man gradually turned his head towards the voice. “Keith?” Shiro spoke with a dry, gravelly voice.


	13. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> While trying to rest from the battle with Shiro, Lance has a strange dream. Meanwhile, in the basement Keith and Pidge found a strange woman crying for help. She reveals herself to be the one responsible for Shiro's change. After a short encounter, Hunk joins up with Keith and Pidge and they put an end to the woman. Injured and tired, they make their way back to Lance and Shiro for some rest. The next morning Shiro wakes to find Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems rushed, I kind of waited to the last minute to start on it and I'm a slow writer that gets distracted very easily. I also started playing Breath of the wild again and really wanna do a Klance au on based on that. So my mind was pretty distracted all week while I jotted down notes and ideas. 
> 
> I am happy I finally got to this chapter because I've been wanting to use this terrible pickup line for sooooo long, and I can start sprinkling soft pinning Keith. 
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

“Keith?” Shiro spoke, his voice dry and gravelly as if he hadn't had a drink in days.

Keith placed his hands gently on Shiro’s cheek, tilting the older man's head towards his own. “Shiro! Shiro, it’s me, I’m here,” his voice cracked as he spoke. Keith was trying to fight back his tears, ultimately losing when he felt liquid trailing down his face.

“Keith, water,” Lance said, nudging a canteen at his arm.

“Here Shiro, drink this. It will help.” Keith spoke softly, moving his hand from Shiro's cheek to support the back of his head, pressing his head forward and placing the canteen to his lips. Shiro coughed as the first splash of water hit his lips. Keith pulled the canteen back, waiting for Shiro’s coughing to cease before trying again. The next attempt went much smoother as Shiro drank most of what he was given.

The water brought some color back to Shiro's face. His eyes opened wider as he took in the face in front of him. “Keith?” Shiro spoke the name again, this time his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah Shiro, it’s me.” Keith’s voice remained low. “I’m here. You’re safe now,” Keith spoke with a smile, waiting for the words to fully sink into Shiro’s head.

Shiro’s eyes grew wider at the realization. He stared into Keith’s violet eyes before whispering, “How?”

“Um...Before we get into that,” Hunk spoke up, drawing their attention. He tapped his fingers together and lowered his gaze when he saw Shiro staring at him. “Are you okay? I mean I know you’re not okay-okay, but are you in pain or hurt or need anything?” Shiro continued to stare at Hunk before the realization dawned on him that he wasn’t alone with Keith. “Oh, Um..I’m Hunk,” the man said. He picked his head up meeting Shiro’s gaze again, “I’ve been traveling with Keith for a few days now trying to find you.”

Shiro gave a soft smile, leaning forward. “Hello Hunk, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for your help. I think I’m okay,” Shiro said as he shifted his shoulders up and down a couple times, “Just stiff and a little dizzy, but I’m sure that will pass.” Hunk smiled back and nodded. Shiro scanned the room, stopping when he spied the tall, tan boy. Lance stared wide-eyed, his back rigid and straight and arms glued to his sides, unmoving like a statue.

Shiro instantly recognized the Garrison uniform and the silver accents of a Guardian. He raised an eyebrow and with a smirk panning to Keith and back. “You must be Keith’s partner. Lance, right?” Shiro asked. Lance’s only response was a couple quick nods before returning to the life of a statue. The older man let out a chuckle. “Not much of a talker I see.”

“Are you kidding?!” Keith exclaimed. “Lance never shuts up. Are you sick or something?” Keith began to harshly jab at Lance’s arm.

The sharp jab broke Lance from whatever trance he was in. “Ow! Stop that!” Lance yelled, swatting Keith’s hand away. “Please explain to me how you impaling me on your finger would help if I was sick!?” Keith just shrugged with a smug grin, he was quite happy with himself for aggravating Lance. Another chuckle escaped Shiro’s mouth, Lance turned to the man beginning to freeze up again. “Um...yeah...I’m...Lance.”

“Thanks for keeping Keith out of trouble while I was…..gone.” The soft smile on Shiro’s face began to waver.

“Yeah, sure!” Lance blurted out with a beaming smile. He reached his arm around Keith’s shoulder, yanking the boy into his side. Keith let out a startled yelp before Lance continued, “Keef here would be LOST without me.” Keith pushed himself away from Lance, eyeing daggers at the boy until he heard Shiro let out a loud laugh. Keith could deal with Lance’s antics if that’s what it took to make Shiro more comfortable.

Shiro went back to searching the room for additional people, finally landing on the last remaining person. His eyes widened as he shouted “MATT! You’re okay! What happened?! Where did--”

Pidge held out a hand, shaking her head trying to remain stoic. “Matt is my brother,” Pidge spoke through clenched teeth.

“Then you must be-”

Pidge waited long enough. She waited over a year. Waited for Shiro to wake up. Waited for introductions. She was done waiting. “What happened to my family!” she screamed, tears forming in her eyes. “Where are they!?”

Hunk shifted to grab the now shaking girl, trying to soothe her. “Pidge calm down, we’re getting to that.”

Hunk’s words didn’t have any effect, she yelled once more, “Tell me what happened to my family!” If Hunk hadn’t been holding her she would have lunged at the speechless man.

“Pidge!” Keith yelled, this time defending Shiro, “Let him recover before you start interrogating him!”

“I don’t know,” Shiro muttered, “I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean!? How can you not know!?” Pidge’s roared, struggling in Hunk’s grip.

A loud whistle pierced the room. Lance removed the two fingers from his mouth when he gained everyone’s attention. “Stop!” he growled at Pidge, “Let him think.” Pidge remained quiet but stopped struggling. Lance turned to Keith “You too,” he warned. Once Lance’s glaring contest with Keith ended he turned to Shiro. “Can you tell us what happened?”

Shiro nodded, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, “Your Father and Brother were taken by a Druid the first week we were here. I haven't seen them since.” The words hit Pidge like a ton of bricks, the fight was stripped from her as she slouched into Hunk’s arms. “I’m sorry.”

“Druid?” Hunk asked as he held the devastated girl.

“The ones who set this whole thing up. They called themselves Druids. There were three of them, but I only got the pleasure of dealing with one of them,” He spat the words from his mouth like venom, “They always wore purple robes and a mask.”

Realization dawned on the group. Keith reached to his belt, grasping the white mask with it’s four glowing yellow eyes. “This mask?” He asked, showing it to the group. Shiro gasped, instinctively shifting away from the item. Keith quickly realized his mistake, putting it away and muttering an apology.

“Yes,” Shiro breathed, “Where did you get that?”

“She’s dead. We killed her,” Keith reassured him.

“That means there is two more of them!” Lance shrieked, gripping Keith’s arm.

Before Lance could panic more Shiro spoke up, “We’re fine. After one of them took the Holts, it never returned. And the other one…..” Shiro paused. Keith took the opportunity to pry Lance’s death grip off his arm. “He only came…..to collect the corpses.” Shiro let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. The rest of the group remained quiet, forgetting this past year must have been a nightmare for Shiro.

After a few minutes of silence, Shiro opened his eyes and spoke, “I should start from the beginning huh?” No one made a noise. “The Garrison picked up an abnormal reading in the Kerberos forest. It was unlike anything they've ever seen and didn’t want to risk anything going wrong, especially with this rift being so close to Arus. That's why they asked me to head this expedition with the other top cadets and why they asked your father and brother to join us.” Shiro made eye contact with Pidge before continuing, “When we got to the rift it was twice the size of the largest rift the Garrison ever recorded. Three Druids were channeling their shadow magic into it. They teleported away as soon as we approached. I should have known it was a trap, I was stupid. I had the Holts seal the rift, but then we were attacked. The druids released a horde of voidlings, and two that were much bigger, hulking void beasts the size of a human. We didn't stand a chance. When I woke up I was in a dungeon.”

“How is that possible?” Lance said, interrupting the story. Pidge shot the boy an aggravated glare for the disruption. Lance ignored her and continued with his concern. “We’re in Blackwood forest, that's just north of Cyreen. It took us days to get here, how could you just wake up here?”

Shiro clenched his fists under the sheets and shook his head, “I’m sorry, I don’t know. I feel like my lack of knowledge is going to be a common theme.”

“OH! Maybe they did a mass teleport!” Hunk blurted out. “You said they teleported away, maybe they used their freaky shadow magic to teleport all of you.”

“Yeah, so about that freaky Shadow magic. Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t there only five types of elemental magic in the world?” Lance asked. He raised a finger as he named them all. “Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Nature. So where did Shadow come from?”

“The Void. Shadow magic comes from the void,” Shiro answered.

Pidge opened her mouth but quickly closed it, biting her lip. She would love to discuss Shiro’s theories on this new form of magic but that was for another time. She opened her mouth again asking Shiro, “Can you continue your story. We can talk about Shadow magic, druid, and Keith’s dagger later.” Pidge gave a look to Keith reminding him she wasn’t forgetting what happened in the basement anytime soon. Keith narrowed his eyes at her, but she responded with a grin.

“Keith’s dagger?” Shiro said curiously. He shook his head and continued with his tale, “Anyway, when I came too I was in the dungeons. The druids had everything planned out, they knew who we were. The first thing they did was incinerate our soul seals.” Shiro finally removed his left arm from under the covers. His hand that once housed an arcane rune now displayed a discolored patch of melted skin. An audible gasp could be heard from around the bed. Pidge and Hunk jerked away, Lance clutched his hand to his chest as if protecting himself from the same fate. Keith clutched his fists, already trying to calm himself from finding the remaining druids and murdering them.

“They took Samuel Holt shortly after. The rest of us, including Matt, were forced to fight in the arena. The druid, she had us fight voidlings at first, but it quickly escalated to multiple shadow fiends of all different animals, and eventually a void beast. Matt wasn’t a fighter, but he gave it his all.” Shiro’s lips curled upward into a fond smile, but then quickly faded, “Until it became too much and he was severely injured.” Shiro felt too much shame and guilt to look at Pidge. “The druid still expected him to fight. I pleaded with her that he is a scientist and not a fighter. She eventually listened and he was taken by the same druid that took your father. I don’t know what happened to him if he’s even…..”

Pidge reached forward and placed her hand on Shiro’s, she offered him a sympathetic smile. “Thank you. Matt is still alive because of your actions,” she said, gripping his hand.

Shiro smiled back at Pidge with a nod. After taking a deep breath he continued his tale, “I lost track of how long we were captive for, but one by one the monsters became too much for my comrades. And one by one their bodies were taken away by the last druid. We can’t even give them a proper burial. When all that was left was myself, Selene Einhart, who is- was my Guardian Partner, and Alvena Conner the third-ranking Knight, we became guinea pigs, strapped to a table and injected with who knows what.” Shiro rubbed his arm as if remembering the phantom feeling. “The experiment was to create a shadow fiend from a human. Alvena went mad within days and I was forced to fight her, to free her from this nightmare. Selene was next, she was stronger but not strong enough. She lasted through the injections but couldn’t fight the void beast as it consumed her.” Shiro’s voice started to crack, a tear spilled from his eye. “I was forced to kill her too, and then there was just me left. I’m ashamed to say it but I lost all hope. The last thing I remember was a void beast approaching me in the arena and then darkness.”

Once the story was over, Hunk shifted forward, encasing Shiro with his big arms and pulling him close. Shiro closed his eyes and rested his head on Hunk’s chest, wrapping his arms around Hunk as he allowed himself a moment. Hunk rubbed circles on the older man’s back, whispering reassuring words, “You’re okay. You’re safe. We’ve got you.” Once Shiro felt his composure return, he pulled back, thanking Hunk.

“WAIT!!!” Lance yelled clambering onto the bed, gripping Shiro’s face in his hands and forcing his face an inch from his own. “Don’t freak out!”

“Lance, what are you doing?!” Keith shouted, reaching to pull Lance away.

“Errrr….Okay?” Shiro said calmly but very confused. He didn’t struggle in Lance’s grasp, instead, he held up a hand to stop Keith. Keith stopped right before reaching Lance, eyes fixated on Shiro’s shadow arm. Realization dawned on him, Shiro didn’t know about his arm and probably didn’t know he was a shadow fiend for who knows how many days.

Lance held his grip on Shiro’s head as he spoke, “Do you remember anything from today?”

“No, Lance. Like I said my last memory was in the arena.”

“Okay, so again don’t freak out cause everything is cool,” Lance said. Shiro raised an eyebrow at Lance’s statement. Lance took a deep breath before speaking,“You may or may not have actually turned into a shadow fiend.” Shiro’s eyes grew wide in terror, all color lost from his face instantly. His mouth opened slightly. Lance’s next sentences came out in one big jumbled mess, “It’s all cool! We were able to turn you back, well Keith did most of the work, but he missed a spot. So don’t freak out because you’re fine even though your arm doesn’t look it.”

Shiro slowly pulled away from Lance’s grip, slowly turning his head until he could see his arm and the darkness that consumed it. Keith immediately grabbed Shiro’s hand assuring him, “It’s okay Shiro.”

Shiro’s gaze reached Keith’s eyes. Quietly he asked, “What happened?” Keith calmly explained what transpired yesterday afternoon, assuring him everyone was okay, including Shiro. Shiro nodded, pulling his arm away from Keith to examine it. He turned and twisted his arm until he was satisfied and let it fall back to his side.

“So what's the plan now?” Hunk asked the group then turned to Pidge, “I know you’re still looking for your family, but what’s the next step? Should we go back to the Garrison?”

“No!” Shiro snapped, startling Hunk, “I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to come out like that. The Garrison only exists to fight creatures from the void. If I show up like this,” he shook his right arm for emphasis, “they'll kill me on sight. ”

“I guess you don't know where we should start looking for my family,” Pidge said somberly.

Shiro shook his head. “I’m sorry Pidge, I don’t know, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on them. I’ll help you find them, I promise.” Pidge’s eyes lit up, grinning from ear to ear. Shiro's stomach gave a loud grumble. “That is, I'll help you find them after breakfast,” Shiro joked, allowing the group a moment of peace as they laughed together.

Once they stopped their laughing Hunk spoke, “Sorry Shiro, we're out of food.” He hung his head in shame, the inability to feed Shiro affected the boy more than Shiro's tale.

In one fluid motion, Lance jumped off the bed, turning to the others and declaring, “Then let's find us some breakfast! And maybe some new clothes for Shiro.”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance asking, “I thought you hated hunting?”

“What?! No!” Lance waved his hands in front of him, quickly looking at Shiro for a reaction before returning to Keith. “I’m all about feeding my friends!”

“That sounds like a great idea Lance,” Shiro said, slowly making his way out of the bed. “I wouldn’t mind a shower too, but I guess that will have to wait.”

The next hour was spent going through drawers and closets looking for anything to fit the tall, broad man. Something that should have only taken about ten minutes, but Hunk and Lance felt the need to also try on old outfits, somehow convince Pidge to wear a very puffy pink dress that couldn’t fit through the door, and ultimately distract everyone. Shiro settled on black boots, beige pants, and a white shirt with ruffled sleeves. When he walked out of the bedroom in his new attire the rest of the group stifled laughter, figuring he had been through enough. Shiro greatly appreciated the gesture.

Now dressed in new or rather old clothes, Shiro took the lead out of the manor. Once outside, Pidge headed to the nearest tree. Using her magic, she told the group there was a lake a few miles to the northwest. They agreed to head in that direction, looking for food on their way.

Shiro lead a vigorous pace into the woods, the others realizing quickly he was trying to gain as much distance as fast as possible from his former prison. It took another two hours of brisk walking and one hour of normal walking until they reached the lake.

Everyone dropped their packs a bit from the water and before anyone had the opportunity to sit, Shiro was giving out orders, “Lance,” the stern sound of his name startled the boy, “why don’t you go hunting.” Lance nodded, putting on a smile to hide his annoyance that he couldn’t take a rest. “Keith, you join him.”

Keith turned his gaze from the still waters of the lake to Shiro. He was hoping to spend time catching up with Shiro. “Why do you need me to go with Lance?” he asked, not realizing how much hostility came out with the words. From the aggravated grunt Lance made, he definitely noticed.

Shiro lowered himself to the ground, placing a hand to his lower back as he stretches it. He didn’t bother looking at Keith when he responded, “I don’t want anyone going off alone. Pidge and Hunk aren’t used to this kind of travel and need a break.”

Keith opened his mouth to respond, quickly closing it and looking over to a very annoyed Lance. Lance briskly past Keith, speaking in a low voice so only Keith could hear him, “Sorry you’re stuck with me.” Irritation radiated from his words. Keith let out out a huff before turning on his heel and catching up to his partner.

Once they were far enough away for the others to not hear them Keith grabbed Lance’s arm causing him to stop and look at Keith as he spoke, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Lance raised an eyebrow in amusement. “And how did you mean it?” he asked.

“Like I’d rather spend time talking to my brother who’s been missing for a year and thought dead, than hunt for lunch,” Keith snarled.

All the fight drained from Lance’s face, replaced with guilt. “Oh. Sorry. I guess, yeah. You would want to do that huh?” Keith released his grip and turned away. “Let’s make this fast then so you can go live it up with Shiro.” The words brought a small smile to Keith’s face as he nodded.

The animals had different plans, as they spent twenty minutes wandering and there was not a single beast or critter in sight. “I don’t know what's worse, the lack of any animals or this silence,” Lance groaned, dropping his head and dragging his feet.

“What was up with you before?” Keith asked.

“Huh?” Lance raised his head.

“When Shiro woke up, you were acting weird.”

“Was not!” Lance immediately squawked in defense.

Keith let out a sigh, “Yeah you were. It was creepy.”

Lance went silence thinking over the words before he spoke, “It’s stupid.”

“So?”

Lance stopped walking, clutching his bow he had summoned previously to his chest and staring at his feet. Keith looked at him curiously, waiting for a response. “You’ve know Shiro for a long time now, so you wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” Keith smirked.

Lance took a deep breath before finally looking at Keith. “Shiro is…...he’s my hero, okay.”

When Keith realized Lance wasn’t going to say anymore he spoke, “So you got starstruck? That’s not stupid. I’m sure Shiro is a lot of people’s hero. The Garrison made him their poster boy for a reason.”

The tension in Lance’s face dissolved at Keith’s understanding. He relaxed his nervous body, strolling up beside Keith. “So, wanna tell me how Shiro knew my name?” He asked with a grin.

“What?!” The question took Keith by surprise.

“Did you talk to him about me?” Lance sneered, leaning in close to Keith’s face.

Keith felt his face heating up, why was he getting so flustered? Keith back stepped, turning away from Lance. “I don’t know! Maybe I mentioned you once, so what?” Keith didn’t need to look to know Lance donned his signature smug grin. The conversation dropped and they continued to look for another living mammal. Finally, Lance spied a boar. With a quick tug of the bowstring, they were carrying lunch back to the others.

When the duo arrived back at the makeshift camp, Shiro was showing Pidge a proper fighting stance and Hunk was sitting cross-legged, fiddling with something and surrounded by cooking tools. Shiro beamed when he saw the two, praising them for the haul. 

“Hunk do you need any assistance with this?” Shiro asked.

Hunk didn’t look up, his tongue slightly protruded from his mouth responding with, “Just a second I think I’m on to something.”

Pidge walked up to Hunk, taking a seat next to him “Gimme, you've been at it for almost an hour. It's my turn,” She demanded.

“Whatcha looking-” Lance started to say before staring at the metal object and freezing.

“Lance, are you okay?” Shiro asked, approaching the still boy.

“Where did you get that!” Lance yelled, letting go of his half of the boar to lunge at Hunk. Keith cursed loudly as the front half of the boar crashed to the ground, but Lance paid him no mind, instead snatching the object from Hunk’s hands.

“Dude, what the heck?” Hunk snapped at his friend, “That druid had it on her.”

Lance didn’t seem like he heard what Hunk had just said. He kept staring at the object, running his fingers over its smooth surface. Finally, he pressed the round circle in the center of the crescent moon and turned the base three times as he saw in his dream the day before. And just like his dream, the edges of the pendant folded back, revealing the projection of the dancing couple. Hunk and Pidge stared at Lance wide-eyed, even Shiro and Keith gave in to their curiosity, crowding around.

“How did you do that?” Pidge whispered, leaning in closer to the projection.

Lance continued to stare at the couple as he responded, “Yesterday, while I was resting after we found Shiro, I had a dream. This pendant was in it, and so were these people.”

“I’ve never seen this kind of technology,” Pidge said while she adjusted her glasses and moved her head around the pendant still in Lance’s hands.

“Do you think she was that druid?” Keith asked, mesmerized by the hologram.

“I don’t know, I never saw her face. She always wore that mask,” Shiro answered.

“Maybe if we find this man we can get more answers,” Keith suggested, finally shifting away and returning to the abandoned boar.

Hunk moved in closer, squinting at the hologram and asking, “What's wrong with their ears?”

“They are pointed, and if you look closely you can see crescent shapes under their eyes,” Lance said, finally turning away from the pendant to look at Hunk.

Shiro stepped closer to Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder. Lance tilted his head up at the man. “Lance, what else happened in your dream?” Shiro asked.

Lance scrunched his face as he recalled the dream. “Nothing much. These two just sat on a hill with a lot of flowers and talked. They sounded like they were a couple. She mentioned something about a High Alchemist, and then he gave her this necklace. They called each other by their first name, but I don’t remember them. Sorry, they weren’t normal names.”

Shiro gave a reassuring smile squeezing Lance’s shoulder gently. “It’s fine Lance,” he spoke softly.

“Do you remember what kind of flowers they were?” Pidge asked, looking up at Lance. “I had to learn a lot of plants back in my old school.”

“The joys of a nature mage,” Lance joked. “They called it a something berry. It had three purple petals, they looked like long triangles. And the stem thingy in the center looked like a fork.”

Pidge took a moment to think before speaking again, “Juniberry?” She didn’t sound confident in her answer.

“YES! That is!” Lance exclaimed.

“Juniberry flowers are kind of rare and at the same time not” Pidge began to explain. “They require a very specific environment to grow so they are only found in a few locations, but within those locations, they thrive and are everywhere.”

“Do you remember where those locations are?” Shiro finally removed his hand from Lance’s shoulder and stood up.

Pidge furrowed her brow trying to recall that detail from her memory. She tilted her head. “I think to the north could be right. I’ll have to use my magic to be sure,” she said.

Hunk stood from his seat next to Lance and with a bright smile he spoke, “And while you do that I’m going to start preparing lunch! Why don’t the rest of you go enjoy the lake?”

At the word lake, Lance’s face brightened in excitement. “Hunk why don’t you go enjoy the lake with Lance?” Shiro suggested. “Keith and I can prepare the boar.”

Hunk looked suspiciously at Shiro, but quickly understood Shiro's plan. “Okay, you can skin it and cut about half into cubes for a stew. I found some mushroom and parsnips that would go great. Now if only I had some spices,” Hunk said, beginning to go on a cooking tangent.

Shiro's firm voice broke Hunk's incoherent mumbling, “Cubes for half the boar. Got it.”

Hunk dug through his bag until he found two knives, handing them to Shiro and Keith. “Cubes for half, strips for the remainder. I can make the rest into jerky using-” Hunk stopped himself before he went in another food rant. With a shy smile he gave them a nod, then turned and headed off towards Lance.

Shiro sat on the ground next to Keith and began working on skinning the boar. “It's really good to see you again, ”Shiro said, smiling as he worked.

“Yeah,” Keith hummed. He kept his head down, looking at the boar as he worked.

Shiro let out a chuckle, “Talkative as ever I see.”

“Shut up,” Keith grumbled with no anger, “It doesn't feel real. You've been gone for over a year and now your here.”

Shiro nodded, putting the knife down and placing his hand on Keith’s, “I'm here because of you.”

Keith shook his head. “No, you're here because of them.” He looked up, gesturing his head to Hunk and Lance laughing by the lakeside. “And her.” His glance ended on Pidge sitting beside a tree meditating, trying to locate the Juniberry flowers. “I wouldn't have made it this far if not for them.”

“Sounds like you made some great friends. I'm proud of you Keith.” Keith smiled at the praise, looking back to Shiro. “How did you met?”

Keith recapped the past few days starting with his encounter with a girl named Katie at the memorial wall. Shiro listened intently, making a disapproving face at Keith when he heard how Keith took a civilian into a quarantine zone, but didn't say anything and allowed the story to continue. It didn't take long for Shiro to completely forget about the boar, opting to give Keith his full attention. When Keith finished, Shiro continued to grin. “Thank you, Keith. I never would have asked all that of you, of them.”

“You didn't need to. You saved me from the orphanage, taking a chance on an angry child with no memory. I'm just returning the favor.”

Shiro leaned forward, embracing Keith in a hug. “And I'd do it again,” he whispered into Keith's hair. Keith wrapped his arms around Shiro, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

“This past year has been ready hard,” Keith croaked, stifling a sob.

“I know, I'm sorry.”

They stayed holding each other for a few minutes, only pulling apart when they hear ground crunching under feet. Keith turned his head away trying to recompose himself before facing his… friends.

Hunk was standing over the pair, arms crossed, his face was still trying to decide if he was happy or annoyed. Lance stood beside him, biting his lip, trying not to look at the pair. Hunk spoke first, “I'm really glad you two got some time.” He then looked at the boar who was for the most part still in its skin, save for its hind legs.

“Sorry, Hunk,” Shiro apologize and rubbed the back of his neck. “We'll stop talking and get this ready.”

“Lance and I can handle this, why don't you take a wash in the lake?” Hunk offered, trying not to sound too annoyed.

Lance let out a soft chuckle, grinning as he scolded Shiro, “Hunk may be the nicest, most caring teddy bear out there, but don't mess with his cooking.” Keith felt composed enough to address his friend, but as soon as he looked at Lance he instantly regretted his decision.

Lance stood looming over Keith. Water dripping down his long, defined, tan legs, his damp blue boxers clinging to his skin and his---. Keith felt his face flustered as his eyes continue to rise over his abs, smooth chest, broad shoulders and muscular arms. How did beanpole, lanky Lance have this kind of body! If his personality wasn't so crap maybe…. How long had Keith been staring for? Had Lance noticed Keith eye humping his body? 

“Keith?” Lance asked. Yeah, he noticed. Keith pushed down his gay panic in order to think of a way to salvage this. He didn't want everyone to think of his as a pervert.

The solution was easier than Keith thought. “What's that?” Keith questioned pointing to the silver armlet hugging Lance's perfect bicep. No, stop that.

“Hmm?” Lance hummed, turning his left arm for everyone to get a better look at. “This? My cousin gave it to me as a farewell gift when I left to join the Garrison.” The armlet was an intricately detailed, silver, metallic serpent covered in scales. It's long body and tail coiled around the arm, it's spine covered in dull spikes. The claws of its arm and foot hovered slightly above the tan skin. A mane extended from its long head, but the most eye-catching aspect was the bright glowing blue sapphire eye.

“What is it?” Keith asked, still staring at the armlet and not his mostly naked partner.

“This is the Baku Serpent. She was fabled to be a powerful water spirit that watched over the children of the sea. Sailors and fishermen revered her as a god and named the Baku islands in her honor. There are still shrines to her on each of the islands that are still frequented.”  
“Why is its eye glowing like that?” Hunk asked bringing everyone's attention to the pulsing blue eye.

“Because she is being stubborn again,” Lance said at his armlet. “Come out and say hi, you know they are good people, even Keith here” As Keith tore his eyes away from the armlet to glare at Lance, something large and glowing emerged from the small gemstone, immediately flying into Keith’s face.

“Whoa!” Keith cried in surprise shifting away from it as Lance began to laugh at him. Keith finally got a good look at the offender, it was a water spirit. A much bigger than normal water spirit, easily twice the size of his fist.

“Guys, this is Blue,” Lance introduced the spirit as if it was a regular acquaintance. “Blue, meet Keith, Hunk, and Shiro.” Blue flew circles around Keith’s head, then Hunk’s, then Shiro’s, before returning to beside Lance’s cheek. “And that munchkin over there is Pidge,” Lance pointed to where Pidge sat undisturbed. Blue shot away from Lance towards Pidge, circling her head as she did to the others.

“AHH! What is that?!” Pidge yelled trying to cover her face from the unknown attacker. Blue finally stopped her circles to float in front of Pidge’s face, allowing the girl to fully understand what was happening. Pidge’s eyes grew at the sight of Blue. “You’re a spirit. You’re a huge spirit.”

“HEY! Don’t you dare put your unrealistic expectations on Blue! She is a beautiful girl!” Lance shouted to Pidge, Blue lightly glowed before flying back to the water mage. Pidge pushed herself off the ground and followed the spirit to the boys. She adjusted her glasses, looking closely at Blue. “I was referring to the fact she is twice the size of any normal spirit. Where did you find her?”

“Blue found me. We met when I was much younger, at the Temple of the Sea.” Lance held out his arm for Blue to circle around before settling back inside the sapphire gem. “She traveled with me to the Garrison, keeping me company.”

“Interesting,” Pidge muttered then noticed the boar on the ground. “What happened to lunch?”

Shiro and Keith dropped their heads to their shoulders. “About that,” Shiro said.

“Shiro and Keith are banned from kitchen duty,” Hunk decreed. “Pidge you wanna help Lance and me?” The girl shrugged, dropped to the ground and picking up a discarded cooking knife. “Shiro. Lake. Now!” Hunk pointed to the water, it was pretty hard to take him seriously since he was only wearing his yellow bandana and a matching pair of boxers.

“Fine” Shiro said with a chuckle, peeling off the ridiculous shirt and exposing his bare muscular upper body. Someone made a loud audible gasp reminding Shiro of the scars and discolored flesh that littered his chest, arms, and shoulders. Shiro balled up the shirt tightly in his hands, focusing on that instead of the looks of pity and disgust the others were probably showing him.

“Hey, Shiro?” Lance said quietly as he approached the man.

Shiro raised his eyes to the boy, Lance looked more nervous than anything. “Yeah, Lance.” He responded.

“Do you like seafood?”

This was not the line of questions Shiro was expecting, cautiously he answered, “Yeah.”

“What’s your favorite type?” Lance pushed further.

Shiro thought for a moment before responding, “I rather enjoy a good swordfish steak.”

“Really? Cause I’m more of a muscle man myself.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows when saying “muscles” then draped his arm across Shiro’s shoulders. As if a switch was flipped all the tension was gone, the area was suddenly filled with Shiro’s loud laughter and groans from the other three.

Shiro had to wipe a stray tear that escaped during his laughter. “Thank you, Lance.” Lance nodded and allowed his arm to fall as Shiro finally headed to the lake.

It was another hour and a half before lunch was finally ready. Hunk being the master chef made exactly the right amount of food and not a scrap more. It was about half an hour before they digested enough to move again. Pidge cleaned the cookware, Hunk took Keith aside to help him make jerky out of the remaining meat, and Lance took this opportunity to apply another face mask explaining to Shiro the importance of a good skincare routine. Lance even offering his assistance if Shiro wanted to find a good routine with his scars. Shiro politely declined.

By the time they were finished, it was mid-afternoon and Pidge was becoming frustrated in her unsuccessful attempts at finding the Juniberry flower. Shiro tried to reassure her, deciding everyone could use a good rest so they would stay at the lake for the night, and she didn’t need to rush. That only frustrated the girl more, knowing they were stuck there because of her inability to find “a stupid fucking flower!” Shiro also decided this wasn't a good time to talk to her about that kind of language.

Night fell soon enough, they set up a campfire and their four-bed rolls. Keith and Lance argued over which one of them would give their bed to Shiro. The older man refused them both and slept on the ground, saying he was used to a hard surface. Eventually, Hunk had to carry the passed out Pidge away from the trees and into her bed. They said their good night and fell asleep to the sounds of nature around them.


	14. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Shiro woke up to see Keith and three complete strangers. He explained what happened 1 year ago and what's been going on since. The group makes their way out of the manor and to a nearby lake, where Lance recognizes and activates the pendant Hunk found on the druid. During their downtime, Lance introduces everyone to his friend, Blue, an unnaturally large water spirit. The group as a whole agree the best way to find the missing Holts is by finding the location they saw in the pendant's recording.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back down to a reasonably sized chapter! Finally got the gang together, just missing a princess and a moustache but we'll get there. 
> 
>  
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

A cool, morning breeze blew off the lake, stirring Keith from his rest. He begrudgingly slid the blanket off his chest, rubbing his face with his palms before finally sitting up. Looking around, he saw Hunk, Lance, and Pidge still fast asleep. A small wave of irritation started to build inside of him, how could they still be asleep when they need to find--- “Morning Keith,” the voice broke his thought. Keith whipped his head to the voice so fast he felt whiplash. Shiro sat near the lake, smiling at him, then patted the ground next to him, encouraging the boy to join him.

Keith nodded, standing and stretching his upper body before making his way to Shiro. “How are you feeling?” Keith asked, taking a seat beside him. Keith always loved the outdoors, sneaking away from his group when he was sent on a mission just so he could explore nature. Something just felt right when he sat on the grass fresh with morning dew, ignoring his now soggy butt.

“Honestly? Like crap,” Shiro chuckled, but Keith only frowned at his friend. “But it's the best I've felt in months. My whole body feels sore and yesterday it was hard to concentrate on a conversation for long.” Shiro let out a long sigh.

“That's just because you're getting old and senile,” Keith joked with a grin causing Shiro to jab him in his side with an elbow. “Hey,” Keith tried to protest.

“I'm not THAT old,” Shiro complained with a matching grin. 

“Your hair says differently,” Keith snarked, reaching up to flick Shiro's tuff of white hair. 

Shiro's eyes narrowed, “That's called stress. Do you have any idea how stressful it is dealing with you?” They both let out a happy laugh at their playful banter. 

After the laughter died down, Shiro continued his previous statement, “I think it's just going to take some time for my body and mind to recover. I don't know how long I spent as a shadow fiend.” Keith placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder shaking his head before Shiro could dwell on the past for too long. “How are you holding up?” Shiro asked trying to divert the conversion.

Keith knew Shiro well enough to know the man would talk when he was ready, so he allowed himself to mull the question over in his head. This past week has been such a wild ride, filled with more emotions than the rest of his life combined. He had never been great or even remotely good at expressing himself verbally, so he answers honestly. “Weird,” Keith responded, turning to face the lake. Everyone would have told Keith that wasn’t a good answer, that he needed to vocalize his feelings better. Everyone but Shiro. Shiro knew Keith, so he allowed the answer to linger, remaining quiet as Keith gathered his thoughts.

“You’ve been with me for almost all my life…..at least what I can remember of it. Then one day you were gone,” Keith said, still looking out at the lake. He watched the still lake, waiting until the breeze caused ripples on the still surface to speak again. “This past year was really hard. It’s stupid, a nineteen-year-old boy not being able to handle being alone.” Shiro reached for Keith’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze before making its way down Keith’s back and rubbing comforting circles. “I had to relearn to be alone again. Now you're here and it seems…...wrong,” Keith explained. 

“That's fine, I know when I’m not wanted,” Shiro joked. 

Keith remained stoic, still looking at the lake. He continued voicing his thoughts as if he didn't hear Shiro, “The first thing I thought when I woke up this morning was ‘I’m going to be one step closer to finding Shiro today’. This is going to sound creepy but you were my obsession. I spent the past year training so I could become stronger, studying so I could become more knowledgeable, never giving up hope, all so I could find you. And now you’re here.” Keith finally looked up to look at Shiro.

At that moment Shiro was radiating pride, beaming a bright smile that rivaled the sun and looking at Keith with so much love Keith couldn't fight the smile no matter how hard he tried. “And I’m here,” Shiro repeated. “I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon without you.” The soft moment was suddenly halted by the sounds of grumbling and murmurs behind them. Waking up was a disheveled head of brown hair attached to a zombified girl. They watched Pidge shuffled out of her bedroll and drag her feet to the same tree she sat at yesterday.

“Good morning, Pidge!” Shiro called to her, just enough for her to hear but not for the other two to wake from the noise. She ignored his morning pleasantries, instead placing her hand on the tree and tilting her head down. The older man turned to Keith with a puzzled look, hoping he could explain her strange behavior.

“Pidge is determined. She will stop at nothing to find her family. Right now, our only lead is that flower, so she will sit at the tree for as long as it takes for her to find it,” Keith explained.

Shiro furrowed his brow, turning his attention back to Pidge. “That could take over a year, even the best Nature Magi would still need months with such a large area and so little information.”

“That won’t matter to Pidge.”

“Then we need more information for her to go off of. We’re in Blackwood forest right?” Keith nodded. “You said Cyeen is south of us, so Taujeer should be to the west.”

At the mention of Taujeer, Keith’s eyes went wide, his body stiffening. He gripped Shiro’s arm and pleaded, “No.”

“Keith, it’s a big city. Someone might know about the flowers,” Shiro said with a stern voice.

Keith lowered his head, releasing his grip on Shiro to grab his own arms. His voice was no louder than a whisper, “I don’t want to go back there.”

“I know you don't, but we need more information, unless you have a better idea?” Keith remained quiet, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, curling more into himself. 

Shiro let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair. He wasn’t a stranger to Keith shutting the world out, he just hoped Keith would take this opportunity to move forward instead of regressing to the past. “You don’t need to come in with us. You can wait outside if that makes you feel better,” Shiro soothed. 

Without a word, Keith pushed himself away until he was a good few feet from Shiro. Shiro let the silence linger for a moment before speaking again, “Taujeer is the earliest memories you have, a few years before we met. Maybe someone there might know more about you.”

“Have I ever been in this forest before?” Keith asked raising his head out of his knees and looking to Shiro.

Shiro was taken back by the strange question, scratching his head as he thought. “No, no I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”

Keith’s body lost some of the tension. He releases his grip on his legs swinging his arms behind him as he leaned back on them. “When we first got here, I think I remembered something.” Shiro slowly inched a little closer to Keith. “It was really blurry but there was someone with me, and we were surrounded by five figures. That's all I saw.”

“That's good, your memory isn’t completely lost. That makes sense if you traveled through here before ending up in Taujeer. The familiar scent probably triggered it,” Shiro grinned at his detective skills, but Keith remained emotionless. Shiro stood, closing the gap between them before sitting back down. “Keith?”

“Can we go back to my obsession with you, that felt less awkward.”

Shiro laughed, patting Keith on the back, “Sure, tell me all about it or rather, me.”

A chuckle escaped Keith. “Yesterday was the first time in a while I noticed things.” Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Like my focus on you was blinding me from the world. And now that you’re here, it’s like the fog is gone. I noticed the way the wind feels in my hair, and the sound of running water, or how animals move when we startle them.”

“Or Lance,” Shiro added.

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin at the comment, “What are you talking about?!” he panicked.

A sly grin crept up on Shiro’s lips. “Oh, don’t think I didn’t see how you were looking at him yesterday after he got out of the lake,” Shiro wiggled his eyebrows in a knowing way.

“I wasn’t!” The words were out of Keith’s mouth at a startling speed. Knowing very well that he was and Shiro was definitely going to be a prick about it. Keith backtracked his words, “He was right there, how could I not? You saw him too?!” Shiro continued to grin, watching Keith dig his grave. “And so what? He has a nice body since when am I not allowed to look at cute boys?”

“Oh, you think he is cute?”

Fuck. Keith regretted not continuing his previous conversation about his past that he hated talking about. “No-why would I-” Keith was really hoping something would save him from this inquisition. As if a higher being was listening, something did divert their attention away from this conversation, but it wasn’t a good something. Behind them, there was a loud, terror filled scream. Recognizing the voice, Keith immediately reached for his dagger on his back, preparing to murder whatever it was that made Lance scream like that.

Lance was cowering behind a tree, staring at where he was just sleeping. Hunk was half awake, still half in his bedroll, looking around in confusion at what was going on. “Lance, what’s wrong!” Shiro yelled as he and Keith got up and ran to the boy.

Hunk got to Lance the same time as Shiro and Keith. Lance just finished his rapid breathing taking one last breath before normalizing himself. “There was a bug!” he explained. The concern fell from the other’s face.

Hunk hoped he didn’t hear that right so he repeated what he thought he heard Lance say, “A bug?” Lance nodded, then realized the look of annoyance on his friend’s face.

“It was a huge spider!” Lance yelled, opening his hands about a foot apart as to show off the exaggerated size. “I felt something crawling on me, and I woke up and that THING was trying to eat my face!” Lance pointed to the half dollar sized spider crawling along his pillow.

Keith angrily sheathed his weapon before turning on his heel and walking away. Hunk let out a sigh and patted Lance’s shoulder before heading to where he was resting peacefully just moments ago. Lance looked to Shiro with wide eyes, looking for some sort of comfort or reassurance. “Umm..” Shiro began, scratching the back of his neck while he thought of something to say. “Glad it wasn’t anything serious,” the annoyed look in Lance’s eyes and small pout made him realize that was the wrong wording. “Anything too serious,” he corrected himself. “I would also freak out if I woke up to that.”

That seemed like the right thing to say, Lance nodded in agreement then declared, “I don’t want to know what else is crawling on me. I’m going for a swim before I find out.” He threw his hands up in the air then stormed off towards the lake, stripping on his way.

Shiro let out a sigh, glad he defused the situation, then made his way to Keith who was making himself busy by putting away everyone’s sleeping gear. He grinned as he watched Keith angrily flick the spider in question off Lance’s pillow before grabbing it to put away. Shiro knelt down next to Keith and whispered, “Lance is going for a swim. Try not to look this time.”

Keith felt his face flush. He gripped the pillow and swung it right in Shiro’s stupid face, watching his traitorous brother cackle as he hit the ground.

It didn’t take long for everything to be packed away and Hunk to have breakfast ready. Keith was making sure he was looking anywhere that wasn’t Lance drying himself off and dressing. Hunk was passing out the food when Shiro spoke up, “Hunk, Lance, can I talk to you two for a moment?” The two looked at each other before giving Shiro a nod. Keith eyed Shiro cautiously, unsure what he needed to talk about. “From what I understand, you two agreed to help Keith find me. You traveled with him up to this point and I am eternally grateful to the both of you for your help rescuing me.” Hunk blushed at the kind words and turned his head slightly to hide his face, while Lance ate up the praise with a dopey grin. “Things are going to become more dangerous and you could both get hurt or worse. I want you to know you have a choice and you don’t need to come with us any further.”

The smiling faces turned into shock, and in Lance’s case anger. “I’m coming with you guys!” Lance declared in a frustrated voice. He was really getting tired of everyone trying to leave him behind.

“Lance, I want you to think-” Shiro tried to explain but was cut off before he could finish.

“I’ve thought plenty before I agreed to help Keith and Pidge find their respective family members. I don’t know what the Garrison does with Knights, but when I became a full-fledged Guardian I took an oath to protect. And I plan to continue to protect my friends until the end.” Lance’s hands were both clenched into fists, his eyes burned with tenacity as he stared at Shiro.

Hunk took a step forward with his head held high saying, “I didn’t go to the Garrison like any of you, but I feel I've proven myself. I plan to continue helping Pidge until she finds her family.”

Shiro quickly realized he wasn’t going to change either of their minds, so he held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, sorry. I wanted to make sure you two are coming because you want too and not because you think you need to. I didn’t mean to offend either of you.”

“Oh, no it’s fine Shiro,” Hunk said reverting back to his kind demeanor. 

“Yeah, I get it,” Lance agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. Maybe he got a little too excited. 

Shiro gave them a nod, they proceed to sit and begin their breakfast. “Wait, what about Pidge?” he asked, noticing the girl was still at the tree.

“I told you, you're not pulling her away from that tree until she finds her family,” Keith said as he took a bite out of the dried meat.

A frown settled on Shiro’s lips “She still needs to eat,” he sighed, grabbing his helping and Pidge’s before walking over to the girl and sitting beside her. She was still focused on channeling her magic through the tree and either didn’t notice Shiro or didn’t care. “Here, take a break and eat with us,” Shiro said as he offered her the food. She grunted, shrugged her shoulders, and continued to work. “Pidge,” he said warningly.

“I can eat later,” Pidge answered in a low growl, still continuing her work and not acknowledging him further. 

“You’re going to over exhaust yourself, you need-” Shiro was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder, Hunk was hovering over him, shaking his head. Shiro was the only one to not understand Pidge’s stubborn nature. 

Lance took a seat on the other side of Pidge, holding a piece of meat to her mouth, instructing, “Open.” The meat continued to flop in front of her mouth until she opened her eyes, glaring at Lance and snarling. Afraid she would bite his fingers off along with the meat he quickly retreated the breakfast to a safe un-biteable distance.

Keith settled behind Lance, leaning against the tree still tearing into the meat, as he watched his teammates unsuccessfully get Pidge to eat. “You’re wasting your time looking for that flower.” Keith’s abrupt words shocked the group into looking at him, horrified, Pidge redirected her death stare to him. “You are an amateur Nature mage, looking for a rare flower in an area you assume it to be. Doesn’t sound promising.” He continued his assault, then tore back into the meat, waiting for his bluntness to sink in.

“Then what do you propose?” Pidge sneered, still glaring up at Keith. Keith's words were brutal, but true. Leave it to him to cut right to the chase, leaving out any sense of comfort. 

Keith took his time before answering, he wanted her to calm down a little. “We either find a stronger mage or ask around. It’s not an unknown flower, I’m sure we could find a botanist to help us.”

Pidge thought over his suggestions, biting her lip at the thought of admitting she needed help. “Taujeer is nearby,” Shiro spoke up, “It’s a big city. I’m sure we will find out what we need there.”

Keith scowled at the suggestion, still not wanting to face the past that he had buried in that town. It was a good plan and exactly what Keith suggested, so when he opened his mouth to protest with no valid argument, he was relieved to hear Lance’s voice first. “Blue thinks we should head to the northwest.”

The outburst caused the group to eye him with puzzled looks, each confused with a different aspect of the statement.

“Why the northwest?” Shiro questioned.

Lance shrugged in response, “Guess she thinks the flowers are there or something.”

“Blue talks to you?” Hunk asked next.

“Not really talks, more like feeds ideas into my brain.”

“Why the hell should we listen to a WATER spirit to find a plant?” Pidge snapped at him, her anger and annoyance returning. They were wasting time that she could be spending searching. 

A lot of people dismissed Lance’s ideas, most thinking they were stupid and ridiculous. He was used to people belittling his thoughts, taking it with a smile, but he had known Blue most of his life and wouldn’t sit idly as Pidge spoke to her that way. “Because your information gathering skills were so useful at Cyreen,” he spat returning her glare. “She clearly knows something and I trust her.”

“I agree with Lance,” Keith blurted out, adding more confusion to Hunk and Pidge. Shiro stared at him disapprovingly while he shook his head.

Lance craned his head back, his hair brushing against Keith’s leg. Starting up at Keith, he asked in disbelief, “You do?”

“Yeah. Taujeer is more industrial, they probably don’t even have a botanist or any nature magi living there.” Yes, Taujeer is an industrial town but there is no proof of the other claims, Keith just hoped he wouldn’t be called out on it.

“Alright! That's three that agree with Blue!” Lance bellowed raising a hand to Keith expecting a high five. When none was reciprocated, he sadly lowered his arm.

Shiro let out a loud sigh in annoyance, covering his face with his hand. “Blue doesn’t count as a vote, Lance,” he criticized. “I’m glad you trust her, but right now we have no reason to believe there is anything in that direction. I’m sorry, but I think going to Taujeer is our best option. ”

Lance subconsciously reach up to grip his armlet through his jacket, turning his gaze to the tree next to him. He didn’t need to see Shiro’s disappointed face. “I think Blue is the reason I had that dream with the necklace,” he announced quietly. “Blue was acting weird after I woke up. We all slept there so why was I the only one to have that dream? That's why I want to listen to her.”

After minutes of silent thought, Pidge placed her hand on Lance’s leg, her anger and annoyance gone, leaving her soft face. “Lance, this is my family we’re talking about.” He looked up to see her glassy amber eyes looking at him. “If there is nothing there and we wasted more time….what if…” She trailed off, the words too painful to say out loud. Her hand trembling as she tightly gripped his pants.

With a soft smile, Lance placed his hand over hers, reassuring her, “I would never put you or your family in danger. I truly believe Blue knows what she is talking about, but if you want to go to Taujeer I will still follow you.”

“Okay,” Pidge whispered, grinning as she sniffled a bit. “We can go northwest.”

“Do I get a hug?” Lance smirked opening his arms and leaning towards the girl.

“No, you freak!” she squealed frantically, backing up while her arms fought him off. That was not an appropriate answer, Lance dove forward, coiling his arms around her like a snake. She let out a squeak while trying to wiggle her way out of his arms. When that didn’t work she tried threats, “Let go of me before I gut you!”

This was probably the funniest thing Shiro has seen in a long time. He bellowed a hearty laugh at the sight. Keith just watched with a smirk as the poor girl spewed empty threats, causing Lance to hug tighter and sway her back and forth like a stuffed toy. “GROUP HUG!” Hunk declared, swallowing the two of them in his arms and causing them to yelp together at Hunk’s sudden embrace. “You two need to join in as well!” Hunk demanded, reaching up and snatching Keith’s arm to join the hug, his big arm holding Keith in place even as he wiggled and pleaded with Shiro for help. The only response was a smug grin and more laughing from the older man. A dirty look from Hunk was all it took for Shiro to stop his laughing and reluctantly join in.


	15. The Dagger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Keith and Shiro have a quiet moment together to catch up. Pidge is still determined as ever to find her missing family. From the moment she wakes up she begins to look for the rare Juniberry Flower. After much discussion, they group deiced to take Blue's advice and travel northwest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been a bum and am having trouble motivating myself to write at home. While at work, I'm jotting down ideas and secretly writing paragraphs when my boss isn't looking. 40 minutes train ride to NYC, wrote to and from. Turn my computer on, spend my nights watching Twitch streamers and youtube. I think cause last chapter and this chapters are just more plot and character interaction I've been meh. Next chapter I've had planned out for a bit and we get back to some action. 
> 
> Because I finished this chapter and gave it to my Beta less than 24 hrs ago, she understandably did not have time to review it. If she does I'll just edit this later, so If there is any bad grammar or spelling errors I'm sorry and I'll be happy to correct them if you bring them to my attention.
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

The morning left everyone in high spirits as they continued their travels. It didn't take much effort to convince Shiro they want to follow Blue's advice instead of heading to Taujeer. Shiro gave a displeased look, similar to what a father would give to their child upon seeing their brand new clothes covered in mud. Begrudgingly he accepted their decision still thinking it was wrong but not pressing it. He remembered how stubborn Keith can be and was quickly learning Pidge is just as bad.

The tension Shiro held in his body was noticeably less and less the further they traveled. By early afternoon and their first long break of the day, they were far enough away from Blackwood forest that they couldn't see it anymore. The group as a whole was more relaxed. Shiro gave the usual job assignments, Lance and Keith would search for food and scouted the area, Shiro continued to train Pidge to fight and Hunk would watch them as he waited for the food to arrive, declining every off to join their training.

After lunch they continued traveling, Shiro directed them based off the position of the sun and at night using the stars. It was another couple of hours before they took a short rest. The moment the words left Shiro's mouth, Lance collapse onto the long grass field, spread out like a starfish and earning a light kick from Keith's boot. “You should be used to this kind of travel,” Keith said, still nudging Lance's side with his boot. Lance groaned, swatting Keith away.

“Just because I'm used it to doesn't mean I like it,” Lance responded, looking up at Keith who's black hair outlined his face. With a grin, he spoke again, “Like you.” The lack of heat in his words had Keith laughing and taking a seat next to him.

“Awwww,” Hunk cooed, sitting across from them in the field. “You two are getting along!”

Keith shrugged, “I think tolerate is the word you're looking for.”

Lance let out a gasp of outrage, then shoved Keith saying, “Hurtful!” Keith couldn't tell if Lance was actually annoyed, so he let the conversion drop. He leaning back on his hands, closing his eyes and listening as the wind slowly picked up. It danced softly through the grass and through his messy hair.

“Keith!” He opened his eyes to the sound of his name seeing an annoyed Pidge inches from his face. “Shiro is being an old man so I need you!” she said, not making any attempt to move away from him.

Keith hummed in agreement, “He is an old man….” He lifted a finger pushing against Pidge’s forehead until she was an arm's length away. “What do you need?” He continued now having his personal space back.

“She wants me to train her more, even though she needs to take a break,” Shiro explained from a few feet away, not even trying to defend his age.

“Fine,” Keith agreed without being asked, pushing himself to his feet. Over the past week, Keith had watched Pidge hold her own again various opponent. She obviously had some experience fighting, but not enough if they continued their routine of encountering new things that want to kill them every other day. Something you learn very quickly about Pidge, she does not like being considered dead weight. “Shiro's taught you basic stances, right?” he asked in a stern voice.

Pidge scrambled to her feet as well nodding. “And a little hand to hand,” she added.

“Let's work on your weapon then. Your Katar is similar to a dagger, but not exact so you'll have to experiment until you find what feels right.” Keith took a big step over Lance's still starfish body, heading a few feet into the field so they could practice without accidentally hurting a bystander.

Pidge followed his lead, she bounced in anticipation until Keith drew his dagger and demonstrated a fighting pose. Instead of looking at him she continued to stare at the weapon remembering it wasn't normal. “How can your dagger do those things?” she asked completely ignoring the training she asked to do.

“Huh?” Keith looked at her, taking a moment to realize what she was talking about.

“It's just a normal Dagger, Pidge. It doesn't do anything special,” Shiro added from the ground where he watched them. “Now take note of how Keith stands and try to mimic it.”

“I think a dagger that turns into a fire sword is something special,” Hunk interject, chuckling to himself.

Shiro lifted an eyebrow at that comment, looking at Hunk and asking, “What are you talking about?”

Lance bolted upright staring at Shiro then at Keith with a huge smug grin, his face beaming like it was his birthday. “Oh man! Does Shiro not know!?”

“Not know what? Keith, what are they talking about?” Shiro asked again sounding puzzled and a bit annoyed.

‘Tolerate’ was exactly the word Keith would use to describe Lance, he thought while knitting his brow. Keith looked down at the source of questions he held in his hand, he could feel everyone's eyes staring at him. This is why he hated dealing with people, it was none of their business what HIS dagger was capable of, so why did he feel guilty for not telling them about it.

“Keith?” Pidge said his name so quietly realizing her mistake. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make a big deal out of this. I was just curious and-”

Keith gripped his weapon tightly, channeling his magic into it. The blade erupted into flames, the fire dancing around until the flames took the shape of a sword. Keith could hear Shiro's sharp intake of breath, the older man was probably looking at him with disappointment for hiding this from him. Deciding he didn’t need to prove himself right, he kept his eyes fixed on her dagger. The flame only held for a few moments before disappearing. “I can channel my magic into my dagger and that's what happens. I don't know how or why it does that, it just does,” Keith spat the words from his mouth wanting to get this over with.

Keith felt a hand on his shoulder, he didn't see or hear Shiro approach. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked up and didn't see disappointment or angry across Shiro's face, but the soft compassionate look he was used too. “It's okay, Keith,” Shiro reassured squeezing his shoulder.

“Where did you get it from?” Lance asked ignoring the moment the two were having.

“I don't know,” Keith mumble barely audible.

Lance cupped his hand around his ear leaning his body in closer. “Come again? Did someone give it to you? Or did you find it?” He held up a finger for each theory.

“Lance,” Shiro called warningly, trying to stop his prying.

“Maybe you bought it? Or stole it?” Lance continued not understanding Shiro's hint to shut his mouth.

At the sound of the word ‘stole’ Keith snapped, pushing Shiro aside ready to jump on Lance. “It's mine! I didn't steal it!” he snarled. Shiro quickly recovered from the abrupt shove, grabbing the boy’s arms securely.

The sudden outburst startled Lance, putting him on guard as he backed away from the threat. Then quickly getting to his feet he hollered, “What the hell is your problem?!” then stomped his way over to Keith with clenched fists.

Shiro held out an arm stopping Lance from getting any closer to Keith, acting as a buffer between the two. “Lance, stop!” he commanded, then looking back to Keith, “You too, calm down.”

The two thick-headed boys didn't make any move to defy Shiro, instead they just glared at the other. Keith not breaking eye contact ground his teeth and repeated, “I didn't steal it.”

Lance narrowed his eyes, eventually taking a step back and crossing his arms. “Fine. You didn't steal it. Then where did you get a magic dagger that channels magic?”

Keith knocked Shiro's hand off his shoulder. Seeing how Keith didn't look like he was about to murder Lance, he let his hand drop but still stood between them. Keith closed his eye and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. When he reopened his eyes those icy blue eyes were still fixated on him. He shifted his gaze away from Lance before the urge to punch him in his stupid face returned. Hunk now stood, standing next to Pidge, they were looking at him, waiting for Keith's explanation.

The fire mage returned his gaze to his partner. With as much control over his anger as he could muster he spoke, “I don't know where I got it from.” Lance raised an eyebrow, clearly not happy with the answer. Keith stole a glance at Shiro, the older man nodded with an approving smile, so Keith took another deep breath and continued, “I've had it for as long as I can remember, okay?!”

Keith noticed Hunk and Pidge looking at each other confused, they trusted Keith to not lie to them, but something didn’t add up. Lance lifted his hand to his chin, thinking hard about what he was about to ask. “So, let me get straight,” he stared, “mama and papa mullet thought it would be a good idea to give baby mullet a dagger that can channel magic?”

That was all Keith could take, like a dam breaking all his emotions flooded out. Shiro saw the shift, but before he could do anything about it Keith started screaming at Lance. “No, you shithead! My parents didn't give a dagger to a baby! I don't even know if I have parents! I don't remember anything before I was eight, and I've had this dagger since then! Are you fucking happy now?!” Keith turned away from everyone storming over to his pack and demanding,” Let's go!” before storming off away from everyone.

Lance watched Keith dumbfounded, his mouth open, unsure what to say. He looked at Shiro for help but was only met with a look of disappointment as Shiro followed after Keith. As a last resort, he gave a pleading look to Hunk and Pidge. They shook their heads and gathering their stuff. “What did I do?” Lance cried at them looking utterly lost.

“Let's go, Lance,” Hunk sighed, following after Keith and Shiro, with Pidge beside him. Lance angrily grabbed his things and trudged after the group mumbling incoherently to himself.

Calling the remainder of the day awkward would have been an understatement. Keith kept his distance only occasionally allowing Shiro within a foot of him. When Pidge tried approaching him, he flat out growled at her. She took the hint and retreated back to Hunk's side. Lance stood on Pidge’s other side that only happen to be the further distance away from Keith, arms crossed and pouting.

That night the tension wasn't as bad. Shiro was able to get a soft discussion going with Hunk about cooking. Keith found a spot away from the others, keeping his back to them. While Pidge slid up next to Lance, startling him when she spoke, “You should apologize to him.”

Lance was so fixated staring at Keith that he didn't notice Pidge’s approach, jumping at her voice. “Shit Pidge! Don't sneak up on a guy like that!”

She ignored his complaint repeating, “You should apologize to him.”

Lance stubbornly crossed his arms, looking away from her and Keith. “For what? I just asked him questions, it's not my fault he freaked out! Besides you're the one that started it!”

Pidge let out a long sigh, grabbing the bridge in her nose with her fingers, pushing her glasses up the bridge. “You're right. If I knew he would react that way I wouldn't have brought it up.” Lance gave a smug nod that she was agreeing with him. “And that's why we both need to apologize,” she added, causing the smug expression to drop from his face.

“Apologizing is what you do with normal people. Keith,” Lance gestured to the boy with his thumb. “is not normal. So that won't work.”

“Laaaaance,” she whined, “Why are you so against this?” He opened his mouth to give a dumb excuse but Pidge wasn't having it. “Whether or not we intended to upset him, we did. So now we need to make it right.”

Lance shifted nervously, his lips twitched slightly as he thought about what she said. “What if he doesn't want to talk and we make it worse? Isn't it best to not approach the angry sword wielding fire mage when he's upset?” He spoke that last sentence one octave higher than usual.

Pidge leaned forward squinting at him, trying to figure out what he was up too. She watched as he gave Keith a quick glance before returning to her. Then she realized it, letting out a gasp, “You're afraid of Keith!”

“What!? No!” Lance yelled, flailing his hands in a ‘no’ gesture. The loud sound attracted the attending of Shiro and Hunk who just looked at him, shook their head and resumed their previous conversation. “Why would you think I'm afraid of McMullet over there?”

“Because he is an angry sword wielding fire mage,” she repeated with a grin.

Knowing he was beaten and had no way of winning again the girl, he hung his head in defeat. “You've seen him fight, I just don't want to be on the receiving end of that okay.”

“Has Keith ever hurt you?” she asked in a low concerned voice.

“What? No! Never!” Again his loud voice grabbed the attention of the other two, but Lance didn't look or care. He ran his fingers through his hair, stopping when he reached his neck. “You know he's not the biggest fan of me. I just don't want to screw up our…” he stopped to think of a word to describe their relationship but came up empty-handed. “whatever it is we have.”

“You mean friendship?” she filled in, sneering.

He made a loud snort, “Sure, you keep telling yourself that. Come on, let's get this over with.” He stood up, shoving his hands into his pants pockets and began making his way over to Keith. Pidge followed closely, giving Shiro a thumbs up when he noticed them. He didn't look happy with them but didn't make a move to stop them either.

When they got to Keith he still sat facing away from them, holding the dagger in his hands directing his attention to it. Pidge cleared her throat then spoke first, “Keith.” He didn't make any notion to acknowledge her presence. That didn’t stop her, she spoke loud and clear and hoped for the best, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know things would have turned out that way. If I did I wouldn’t have asked.” There was no reaction from the boy, she began second-guessing herself if her apology was just that bad or maybe he didn’t want to accept it. A hand fell on her shoulder, Lance looked down at her with a smile and a nod.

“I’m sorry too,” Lance spoke up. There was a visual change as Keith’s body stiffened slightly at his voice. “I never meant to upset you. Just know that you can talk to us, okay?” With that, Lance turned on his heels and headed towards Hunk and Shiro. Pidge took one last look at Keith, his tense shoulders were now slumped, she smiled then hurried after Lance.

When dinner was finally ready Keith rejoined the group. He remained quiet for most of the meal, only laughing when Hunk told a story of Lance’s over the top reaction when Hunk offered him a bear claw, and how his rant lasted a good ten minutes before he was able to explain it’s a type of pastry. Once during the meal, Keith looked up making eye contact with Pidge and Lance, before quickly looking away. The sky began to darken and clouds settled in. With five people they got the tents set up before the rain started. Lance retreated to the tent with Pidge and Hunk, thinking it wasn’t a very good idea to share the other one with Keith even with Shiro as a buffer. With the three of them being in such close proximity, Hunk insisted on a group cuddle. Pidge flat out refused but was subjected to it anyway with Lance siding with Hunk. She will never admit she secretly enjoyed it.

The next day things seemed to be returning to normal. Keith offered to help Pidge pack up camp, she gladly accepted and even though they didn’t talk it still felt good. Later that day Keith went hunting with Lance as usual. They spied a boar fairly quickly, and when Lance let go of his arrow either dumb luck or bad timing caused the boar to shift its head at the last second. Instead of the arrow killing the boar, it only served to piss it off and charge at Lance. The archer let out a startled yelp, tripping backward over a rock and ending up in a puddle of mud as a very angry boar heading straight for him. Keith made quick work of it as soon as it got close, then offered a hand to the mud-covered boy with a small smirk.

By the time evening hit the Keith tension was completely gone. The group chatted about nonsense, laughing at stupid jokes, except Keith. He made sure to sit with the group, but he didn't involve himself in the chatter, instead, he fidgeted nervously where he sat. Hunk took notice, breaking away from the chatter to ask, “Keith buddy, you okay?”

Keith calmed his twitching leg, looking up to meet Hunk's face. There was always something calming and soothing about the bigger man presence. “I have something I want to say,” Keith told him sounding unsure of himself.

The others must have been eavesdropping because their conversation instantly stopped, their attention now on Keith. The urge to resume fidgeting washed over Keith, only when he forced a hand to his knee did his leg stop shaking. “Um…so… I don't like talking about my past,” he managed to get out. There was a quiet snort, probably from Lance, but Keith ignored it and continued. “But since we're going to be encountering all sorts of things, I thought I should be more clear about my dagger.”

Silence hung in the air, the only sounds were the crackling of wood in the fire. Keith scratched the back of his neck feeling very awkward. “I don't have anything else to say. Do you have any questions?”

Without thinking Pidge blurted out, “Can I see it?!” as soon as the words left her mouth she realized her potential mistake and quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

Keith took the question better than they would have thought. Shaking his head no and saying, “I don't like other people handling it.”

Hunk was next with a question, “What did you do to the druid? It was hard to see with the cape, but it looked like your dagger absorbed her. Then it got all glowy afterward.”

“I didn't do anything,” Keith explained thinking back to just a few days ago. “I was too mentally exhausted to cast any more magic. When I saw Pidge in danger I just figured I'd stab the Druid until she died.” The blunt and to the point explanation was just so Keith the others couldn't help but smile. He was taking these questions very well.

“Can you give a better explanation of what happened?” Shiro asked.

Pidge decided to field this question, “After Keith stabbed the druid she screamed bloody murder, then disappeared leaving her dagger glowing purple.”

“When I tried to pull it out I couldn't. It felt like the dagger was stuck,” Keith further explained.

The silence settled in again as Shiro thought he subconsciously brought his shadow hand up to stroke his chin. The shadows danced along his arm, glowing a pale purple in the light of the fire. Lance broke the silence saying, “Shiro not to sound inconsiderate or anything, but that is really creepy.” Shiro stopped his hand motion, looking at Lance with a confused look. “Your arm, it looks really creepy okay.”

“What if Keith stabbed Shiro!” Hunk shouted with no prior explanation.

“I just wanted Shiro to put his arm down, not be put down,” Lance replied with a deadpan look to his friend.

“No, no, no!” Hunk waved his hands before explaining, “What if Keith's dagger can absorb the corruption on his arm?” That didn't seem like a terrible idea. The dagger does have some weird magical properties.

“It's too dangerous,” Pidge spoke up, adjusting her glasses. The reflection of the light of the fire obscuring her eyes. “It had a magic reaction to the druid, yet it functioned as a normal blade against shadow fiends and voidlings. There doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground. We also don't know much about Shiro's new shadow arm. For all we know it could be a sentient being and react violently to the contact.”

“And I'm the one with outlandish ideas?” Lance muttered under his breath.

“Before we start experimenting, we should get a better idea about what we do know,” Pidge continued, “Is fire the only element is capable of channeling?” The group looked at Keith for an answer, but he simply shrugged.

Pidge stood up and began pacing back and forth as she fell deeper down the science rabbit hole. “Hunk and I aren't trained enough with magic to get an accurate assessment. And Shiro has yet to use any magic since the fight. He probably is still too weak or maybe afraid to try.” The statement caused Shiro to frown at the girl. It was a looked Keith recognized, Pidge was right on the money reading Shiro like that. “You should let Lance try!” Pidge concluded with a shout.

“What?! No!” Lance protested. Keith was finally acting normal towards Lance. He didn't want Pidge’s little experiment to ruin it. His panicked filled eyes locked with Keith's, pleading ‘this wasn't his idea’. Those violet eyes were filled with just as much panic, Keith broke their gaze to look at the ground. His hand slowly reached behind him, reemerging with his dagger.

Keith stared at his blade, it was his idea to reassess his dagger, he needed to go through with this. He bit his lower lip before quietly agreeing with a simple “Okay….” No one expected Keith to agree, not to let his dagger out of his position, not to let someone touch it, and especially not experiment with it. Keith raised the dagger out in front of him, slightly lifting his head so his long hair still mostly obscured his unreadable eyes.

Lance was still staring in awe, it wasn't until Keith abruptly asked, “Are you going to take it or not?” that Lance broke his trance and scrambled across to the ground on all fours to Keith. Lance looked at the dagger then up to Keith as if asking if this is really okay. Keith gave a hesitant nod then extended his arm further. Slowly and delicately Lance took the blade from Keith, he held it like this was the most fragile and important item in the world. There was so much discussion over such a simple object.

“What do I do?” Lance asked as he eyed the normal-seeming blade in his hand. There didn't seem to be anything special about it except the handle and crossguard were wrapped in cloth. Was this to help give a better grip? Could there be something under the wrapping? Lance swallowed his curiosity, looking back to Keith.

“Just use your magic, but think of the dagger as an extension. Let your magic flow through it,” Keith explained, sounding nervous.

Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith, “That's a terrible explanation,” he huffed. With four pairs of eyes watching him eagerly, who was Lance to deny his fans. The familiar cooling sensation spread across his body as he began to use his magic. It traveled down his arm pooling at his hand. Lance would normally need to give a slight push to allow the water to materialize in his hand, but he wasn’t conjuring water in his hand, he was channeling it through the dagger. “Think of the dagger as an extension,” Lance mumbled Keith’s words to himself. The energy in his hand pushed forward, causing the dagger to glow a light blue. Once the whole hilt was illuminated Lance gave another push on his magic and the blade was swallowed by water.

“Whoa!” Lance heard Pidge gasp. The blade now covered in water was nowhere near as stable as when Keith uses it. The water shifted from side to side wobbling like a faucet being given varying levels of water pressure. A burning log gave a loud crackle, startling Lance enough to jump and drop his concentration. The water lost hold on the blade, dropping to the ground and splattering to the surrounding area.

“Shit! Sorry!” Lance quickly apologized. “Let me try again!” he insisted, wanting to show everyone he was as capable as Keith.

“That's quite alright, Lance,” Shiro spoke up. The disappointment was visible on Lance’s face. “We just needed to know if any element works and you just proved that. Plus I think Keith wants his dagger back.” Keith was fidgeting worse than he was before, both knees were shaking, his arms were crossed with his hands tucked into his armpits, presumably also shaking. Nervous Keith was actually kind of cute, especially with his little pout and raised shoulders. Lance smiled as he handed back the dagger. Keith snatched it out of Lance’s hand and resheathing it behind his belt before anyone could blink. His nerves calmed almost immediately, so much so Lance couldn't be mad about the abrupt grab.

“I think that's enough for the night. Let's get some rest okay?” Shiro said. Everyone nodded, returning to their spots. No one muttered anything more than ‘good night’ before one by one they drifted off to sleep.

Breakfast was uneventful. Keith was willing to discuss his dagger yesterday, even though it was visible how much it made him uncomfortable. So everyone decided to not bring that topic back up, at least give the boy some time to breathe. It wasn't much longer after they resumed their travels that Pidge was yelling with excitement, “Look!” She pointed to the ground a few yards away then ran to it. The rest following after her.

“What's up?” Lance asked once he caught up to her.

Pidge was grinning, her face painted in excitement. Using her foot she pointed to the ground. “Look! The ground is more compressed. It's a path! We just need to follow it and we'll find a settlement or something!”

Her smile was contagious, the rest of the group smiled to one another. “Then what are we waiting for!” Shiro exclaimed, heading up the winding path.


	16. Froghemoth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Keith divulged more about his past and dagger that gets him into a disagreement with Lance. The group finally finds what looks to be a path that will hopefully lead them to a settlment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look a chapter! And it's not 3k worth of plot! Life has been busy and not in a good way so I literally just finished editing this chapter, so again no beta. Cause typoes and grammar mistakes drive me crazy while reading, let me know if I missed stuff and I'll happily change it. Thank you for your comments and I'm so sorry I haven't been responding I promise to be better going forward.
> 
> So gonna make a mention to an amazing fundraising campaign going on this month. An English youtube group by the name of The Yogscast is hosting a charity live stream every day in December to raise money. They have already raised over $2.2 mil since the 1st of the month. If any of you are gamers or know gamers, they have a deal with humble bundle and for $35 you get a crap load of indie and some mainstream games with your donation. Since this isn't a fundraiser for myself I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link, so you can just google humblebundle and under their bundles it's labeled "The Yogscast Jingle Jam 2018" You can also pick what charities your money goes too, they have over 2k to pick from and you can adjust the slider bar to add or subtract. 
> 
> Next chapter will be up after season 8, can't wait!
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

-After finding the path everyone's overall spirit was pretty high. Chances are it would lead them to a town, which means soft beds, tavern food (no offense to Hunk's camping cooking), and people that could help them. Pidge bounced her way along the path as the others trailed behind her.

“Alright, Pidge, time for a break,” Shiro called to her, causing her to abruptly stop and spin around on her heels, her face in full pout mode. “Pidge,” Shiro spoke firmly, attempting to shoot down any protests before she could voice them. “It's good to take breaks often, we don't want to be tried if anything comes up. Not all of us have your kind of energy.”

Unfortunately, Shiro's plan doesn't work as well as he had hoped. “But none of us are tired!” Pidge exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, getting herself ready for a fight.

Shiro frowned slight, taking a deep breath and trying again in a stern voice, “Breaks aren't only taken when you're tied, Pidge. The point of a break is to prevent yourself from getting to that point.”

Pidge scrunched her face in annoyance, Shiro wasn't making this easy. She looked behind her to the winding path, then back to Shiro. “Let's just go a bit further! You guys are used to long travels from the Garrison!” As soon as the words left her mouth she remembered a tiny detail, guilt washed over her as her eyes made their way to a nervous looking Hunk. The poor boy ducked his head into his shoulders, as soon as he saw Pidge look at him, averting his eyes to the ground.

“It's okay Shiro,” Hunk mumbled while twittering his thumbs. “We can keep going. I'm fine.”

Pidge looked back to a now annoyed Shiro standing with his arms crossed. “Not all of us are from the Garrison,” Shiro reminded her in a stern voice that made her feel even more like crap. How did she forget about Hunk? He's been traveling with her from the start of this, becoming one of her best (and only) real friends.

“Why don't we practice your form for a bit?” Keith said as he approached her.

“That's a good idea,” Shiro agreed with a nod then headed off the path to a nice shade tree. Lance placed his hand in Hunk’s back without a word, guiding him to follow Shiro.

Pidge and Keith dropped their things where the others were resting then started basic forms. It only took a couple of minutes before Lance apparently got bored with resting and started heckling Keith.

“Serious business means serious Keith!”

“I've seen better forms at the Garrison administration office!”

“He knows how to use a knife, next maybe he’ll learn how to use scissors for that mullet!”

Almost all his comments were overly stupid and the rest didn't make any sense. Even though all the comments were directed at Keith, Pidge was finding it increasingly harder to concentrate. Once she lost her footing for the third time due to laughing, Keith decided to put an end to this. Turning to face Lance, he pointed his dagger threatening in his direction. “Will you shut up before I make you shut up!” Keith threatened.

“Ooooooooooo, I'm terrified,” Lance mocked, with a smug grin knowing he won by getting to Keith.

“Why don't you get off that lazy ass of yours and practice?!” The comment didn't seem to phase him, instead, he just shrugged and made himself more comfortable where he sat under the shady tree. Fine if this is how Lance wants to play it, Keith knows exactly how to push his buttons. With a wicked grin, Keith crossed his arms and said, “We all know you need to work on that terrible aim of yours.”

Lance shot up from the ground, stomping over to Keith as he yelled, “What did you say about my aim?!” The best way to aggravate Lanbe, insult his pride, the boy can't handle it.

Once Lance made his way to Keith he opened his mouth but Shiro beat him to it. “That's a great idea,” Shiro said. The two boys looked over to him confused. “Why don't you two practice and I'll take over with Pidge,” Shiro continued.

“Ummm..” Lance's voice returned to a non-irritated state. “I don't do hand to hand. I'm a range kind of guy. You know long distance archer.” Lance motioned firing an arrow with his hands.

“Afraid I'd embarrass you too much in hand to hand,” Keith taunted low enough for only Lance to hear. Lance tightened his hands into fists and clenched his jaw, but refused to break his gaze on Shiro. That's two for Keith he snickered to himself.

“Keith, you start over by that tree,” Shiro pointed to a tree about fifty yards away, “Lance, you go to that rock,” this time he pointed to a nearby rock. “The objective for Keith is to get to Lance. Lance, you're goal is to keep Keith away from you for as long as you can. Both of you, use any means necessary, but remember this is only an exercise. Don't hurt each other.” Shiro narrowed his eyes at them. “Pidge, let's go over here,” he ushered her away to another open area.

Keith and Lance eyed each other. Neither one was known to back down from a challenge, especially from the other. “I'll go easy on you, Mullet,” Lance taunted and he sauntered away.

“Didn't know you wanted to lose that badly,” Keith retorted, making his way across the open field.

“You got this Lance!” Hunk yelled encouragingly to his friend. Lance shot him a smug grin before Hunk yelled again, “You can do it, Keith!

“Hey! You can't play both sides!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.

“Why not? You're both my friends.”

Lance let out an overly dramatic huff before summoning his weapon and getting ready. Keith was glad his back was too them, otherwise, they would see his big grin. He finished his jog to the tree, summoning his weapon and about-faced. There was only a couple of trees and obnoxiously places rocks between them. The field was mostly open and highly in Lance's favor since Keith had very little cover. That wasn't going to stop him from wiping that cocky grin off Lance's face.

An arrow came soaring through the air, Keith jumped to his side narrowly avoiding it. “What's taking so long Mullet? Trying to delay your inevitable defeat?” Lance yelled across to him, he stood with his bow in hand preparing another arrow.

Yeah, winning is going to be so sweet. Keith charged forward, dodging to the side and stopping short to avoid the onslaught of arrows. Lance's accuracy was frighteningly good, Keith needed to make sure he was constantly moving and moving erratic enough to not have his moves read. At least the arrows weren't being released at their normal rate, each arrow was slightly delayed so Lance could power them down enough to not be deadly.

Keith dove behind one of the few trees, taking a breath before lobbing a fireball out from one side as a diversion and emerging from the other to continue his sprint. Another problem about facing Lance, they are partners, they know each other fighting style and how they think. That's why Keith narrowly avoided another arrow as he emerged, but the next one hit him square in the shoulder. He felt a slight sting but it was gone after a moment.

“WOOOO! GOT YOU!” Lance cried, dropping his fighting stance to lift his arms in the air and do a quick victory dance.

Keith stopped his approach and rolled his eyes at his opponent. “The objective is for you to stop me. I can still reach you and kick your ass with just one arm.”

The victory dance ended with a sigh. “Whatever, you just can't accept my greatness can you?” Just like that the two dropped their banner and continued their exercise. Keith got closer and closer to his target, taking minimal hits and grazes. Eventually, Keith reached the archer who only shrugged and continued with his smug attitude. “Bout time. Only took you what, five minutes?”

“I didn't want to embarrass you too badly in front of Hunk. Let's go again,” Keith casually said, before jogging back to his starting position to try it again.

When they started again Keith used a different tactic, head straight for Lance with little deviation. He used his sword and his magic to block the arrows, unfortunately, he wasn't able to block them all. The ones that did pepper his body he ignored as they weren't fatal hits. This time when Keith reached Lance he was the one to openly mock his opponent, “That seemed like less than two minutes. Are you even trying anymore?”

Lance's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched as his face contorted into a scowl. Without waiting for an inevitable insult Keith again jogged back to his starting position this time with a huge grin. Pushing Lance's buttons is way too easy.

As soon as he turned back around Lance let loose his first arrow. Keith needed to jump to the side to not let it hit his heart, instead, it hit into his forearm. The pain was more than a simple sting and lasted longer too, Lance wasn't lowering his power as much as before. It was nothing unbearable so Keith shrugged it off and charged. The arrows came faster, becoming harder to block. Again he was hit, this time in his hip and again the pain was more intense but with clenched teeth, he shrugged it off. Keith was so fixated on his target he didn't see a rock in front of him. His body wobbled ungracefully as he avoided it last second, leaving himself open. Another arrow made contact with his thigh, pain ripped through his leg as a scream force its way out of his mouth.

Keith fell to the ground clenching his now bleeding leg. A cold chill made its way down his spine when the reality of the situation hit him, this wasn't a powered down arrow, Lance used his normal strength. “KEITH!” Hunk cried, within seconds he was surrounded by Shiro, Pidge and Hunk.

Shiro knelt in the ground placing a hand on the injured boy helping him sit up. “What happened?!” he demanded, his eyes quickly roaming Keith’s body.

Lance was now hovering over the group his eyes wide and face pale. “Keith…. I- I didn't mean too,” his voice trembling almost as bad as his body.

Suddenly the pain was replaced with anger at the sound of his voice. “WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?! DO YOU REALLY NEED TO WIN THAT BADLY?!” Keith roared, jerking forward and instantly regretting it as the pain pulsed through his leg, he clenched his leg tighter with his hands.

It didn't take very long for Shiro to put the pieces together. He was busy training with Pidge and assumed they could behave themselves without needing to be babysat, apparently, he was wrong. Shiro turned his attention to Lance, his stoic face was probably one of the most terrifying things Lance had ever seen. “This was an exercise,” he growled between his teeth.

“I know! I know, I'm sorry! I didn't mean too!” Lance frantically spoke. “Let me heal him.” He leaned closer to the injury, his hands shaking in front of him as he reached out.

“You could have seriously hurt him! What were you thinking!?” Shiro was now yelling, his stoic face twisted in anger. The outburst caused Lance to snap his hands back to his chest, they locked eyes as Shiro continued, “Why didn't you lower your power?!”

“I… I forgot…” Lance meekly whispered the words, too afraid to look away.

“You forgot?” Shiro repeated in a snarl making Lance flinch back.

“Shiro that's enough!” Hunk yelled, putting himself between the two and physical blocking Lance from Shiro's piercing gaze. “It was an accident, yelling at Lance isn't doing Keith's leg any good.”

Hunk was right, Keith's leg was still bleeding and Lance knew he screwed up. The anger in Shiro's face lessened slightly. “Alright,” he mumbled redirecting his attention to Keith

With Shiro backing down Hunk moved to the side allowing Lance to scramble next to Keith. Lance didn't look up, just reaching his still shaking hand above the wound. Taking a deep breath he calmed himself enough to stable his hands through the heal. The instant the wound disappeared fully Lance picked himself up and hurried off away from everyone, still refusing to look at anyone's face. Hunk eye Shiro before following after his friend.

“You okay?” Shiro asked Keith, his composure finally returning.

“Of course he's alright! It was just a damn leg injury!” Pidge yelled from her seat on the ground next to Keith. “You didn't need to freak out on Lance like that!”

Shiro was taken aback from her outburst, but remained calm when he spoke, “He hurt Keith during an exercise-”

“Not on purpose! You saw how upset he was,” she interrupted his sentence. “You overreacted and he didn’t deserve that. You owe him an apology! Both on you!” She stated firmly then proceeded to storm off after Hunk and Lance.

Keith pulled his legs up to his chest as he thought Pidge’s words over. “Did I overreact?” he asked, looking to Shiro for advice.

Shiro let out another sigh as he ran his fingers through the white of his hair then asked, “Has Lance ever hurt you before?”

“No, never!” Keith shook his head.

“Then maybe we did overreact a bit. Let give him a few minutes then try to talk this out like adults.”

Keith glanced in the direction of the others, Lance was leaning into Hunk’s massive hug with Pidge sitting beside him rubbing his leg. Even from fifty feet away Keith could still see Hunk’s usual calm sweet eyes, narrowed into slits as he glared at him. “I don’t think Hunk is going to let us anywhere near Lance for a while,” Keith deducted.

With very little talking and communication, the group gathered their things and followed the path again. Shiro and Keith lead while Hunk and Lance trailed as far behind as they could, Pidge tried to remain somewhere in between to be the neutral party. As each hour passed the gaps became a little smaller. Around the time they would normally break for lunch they saw smoke in the distance.

“I think there is a settlement over there,” Shiro announced to the group.

“Finally!” Pidge cried in joy, “You better not make us stop for lunch before we reach it.”

“No, as long as everyone is okay we can continue on.” Shiro eyed his group for any sign of protest, Keith and Pidge nodded.

Hunk placed himself half in front of Lance, still being overly protective of his friend. “Sounds good,” Hunk said with the slightest hint of irritation. Shiro knew better than to address Lance directly so he just returned to the path and towards the smoke.

Within the hour they were standing at the entrance to a small town. Lots of loud angry voices could be heard coming from inside. They stood silently trying to make out words but they all just jumbled together. “Wonder what's going on in there,” Pidge asked.

“Let’s go find out,” Shiro announced before heading through the entrance. He only took a couple of steps before he felt someone tug on his arm. When he turned he was surprised to see Lance next to him. He didn’t look at Shiro instead he started off at a random wooden building.

Lance was rubbing the back of his neck when he spoke without the usual energy he normal possessed, “You should hide your arm.”

Although Shiro’s shirt covered his arm completely you could still see something was amiss through the white fabric. Plus his hand was completely exposed. Shiro slipped his hand his pant’s pocket before giving Lance a genuine smile and thanking him, “Thanks, Lance.” Lance nodded then hurried back to Hunk’s side. The smile turned into a frown when Shiro realized how much his words affected the boy.

The group entered the town and followed the sounds of the voices. They found their way to the center of town where a large mob of people gathered, there were arguing with a man who stood on a wooden platform.

“This is an outrage!” a townsperson yelled.

“You need to put a stop to it! How can you let them do that!?” another person cried.

“Please, Please. Everyone calm down!” the man on the platform tried to calm the crown.

Shiro tapped the closest woman on the shoulder, “Excuse me, ma’am. What is going on?”

The woman turned to Shiro, she looked to be in her late forties with a sickly pale face and deep circles under her eyes. “Those bastard think they can make a profit off this town crisis!” She let out a loud cough then continued, “That’s the last straw! We aren't having it!” With that, she turned away and yelled something that got lost in the crown.

That wasn’t very helpful, so Hunk taped a man on the shoulder, “Sorry to bother you Sir, but can you tell us what's going on?”

The man looked a bit older than the woman, but still has the same sick look on his face. “The mayor isn’t doing anything about this epidemic! He’s just waiting until we all die!”

“Epidemic?” Hunk asked a little nervous.

“The water supply was poisoned! Everyone but those damn aristocrats are sick and waiting on our deathbed!” He explained before once again reassimilated with the angry mob. Without knowing all the facts this man sounded like he was over exaggerating a bit. On a further assessment of the crowd everyone had pale almost green look skin, a good number of them coughing between their cries of outrage.

“What do we do?” Keith asked.

“Let’s wait and listen to what we can, then maybe we can talk with the Mayor after,” Shiro said. “The man said this was caused by the water, so as long as we don’t drink it we should be fine. But just in case we should try to keep our distance from the sick.” Everyone took a step back as they listened to the crown’s cries.

“We should distribute the clean water to the important people, like the doctors and healers!”

“What about me? I cook food to feed this town! How is that not important?!”

“What about children and the elderly? And those with poor immune systems? Shouldn’t they come first?!”

“Everyone that enough!!” the man on the platform, presumably the Mayor, bellowed, silencing the crowd. “No one is more important than anyone else! We are doing the best to process, purify and distribute what water we have evenly. I have a meeting later this afternoon and we will be discussing further how to resolve this. As for the Vodat family, they are within their rights to do as they wish with the water from their private well. You may not agree with their attitude to sell their water, but I can not do anything to stop them. Please, every go back to your homes and rest I will do everything I can to resolve this as quickly as I can.” With his final statement he rushed off the platform not waiting for the crowd to continue voicing their option. With the mayor gone the people slowly began to disburse.

“I don’t think getting lunch here is a good idea,” Hunk spoke up.

“No, it’s not. Let go back outside to eat, then we can talk with the Mayor. That should give him enough time to settle down and be willing to talk with us,” Shiro suggested. Everyone agreed with a nod.

About an hour later the group was back in the town asking for directions to the Mayor’s house. The house was a two-story wood and brick house, much like it’s neighboring houses. Maybe it was a bit larger but not by much. Shiro knocked on the oak door waiting patiently as he heard movement inside. The door opened revealing a dark-haired girl in her late teens, she was wearing a light green dress that complimented the green of her eyes. She raised an eyebrow at Shiro’s ridiculous outfit as she eyed him up and down. “My father is working on a solution to the water crisis and is not able to talk. Please be patient as this issue will be resolved shortly,” her words sounded very rehearsed and tired.

She attempted to close the door but Shiro pressed his hand to it too, halting the door. His action was not well received as her face turned into a scowl. “My name is Shiro, I am from the Garrison. My friends and I wanted to offer our assistance. If it is not wanted we will leave your town and continue our journey.”

Her face softened a little, she opened the door further to look over the group. She focused mostly on Keith and Lance, probably due to their uniform backing up Shiro’s claim. “I am sorry for my rudeness. The townspeople have been very….stressful,” she said opening the door fully to invite them inside. “I’m sure my father will welcome your assistance.”

Shiro gave her a gentle smile and a nod as he entered the house. “I understand. I saw how they reacted at the,” he paused thinking of the right word, “town meeting.” The others followed after him remaining quiet and letting Shiro do all the talking.

She laughed as she replied, “Town meeting, sure that’s what it was.” They were lead down a long hall leading to a closed door she knocked then called, “Father, I have some guests who I think can help us.” Without waiting for a replay she opened the door leading into a study. The room was filled with bookcases and wooden armoires, an unlit fireplace was snug in one of the walls with a small table and chairs in front of it. All the windows were covered by curtains, making the room much darker than the rest of the house, and in the middle of the room the Mayor sat at a table with an older gray haired woman as they looked over some papers. They looked up at the intruders, annoyed by the interruption.

“Moria, what's going on?” the Mayor asked his daughter as he got up from his chair, not even trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. “Who are these people?”

Moria turned to Shiro, giving him a nod and taking a step out of his way. Shiro stepped forward greeting the man, “Hello sir, my name is Shiro, my friends and I come from the Garrison.” He guested with his hands to his comrade behind him. “We were passing through and heard you are having trouble.” The woman sitting at the table snorted at that. “I wanted to offer our assistance in any way that we can.”

The Mayor looked hesitant to answer, his eyes wandering over the group. He eyed the woman still sitting beside him. “What do you think?” he asked her.

“I think you should at least hear them out,” the woman shrugged at him then returned to the papers on the table.

The Mayor closed his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose and let out a tired sigh. He didn't look sickly like the rest of the town, just tired as if he hadn't had a good night sleep in days. “Please take a seat.” He swept his arm gesturing to the two empty chairs at the table. “The rest of you can pull up a chair if you wish.” Around the room were additional chairs, some as part of a table set, another looked to be a comfortable lounge chair.

“Thank you,” Shiro said taking him up on the offer.

The idea of moving the chairs seemed like to much work so the group just hovered around Shiro. Moria took the remaining seat at the table between her father and the woman. “My name is Shawn, I am the mayor of this town. You met my daughter, Moria, and this is Sheila our chief engineer,” Shawn introduced.

Shiro followed suit gesturing his comrades as he introduced them, “This is, Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. We heard some interesting things from the people of this town earlier.”

Shawn grinned, “I’m sure you did.” He took a deep breath before beginning his explanation, “Everything started just over a week ago, an unusually high number of people were reporting illness. It took a couple of days but we figured it our water was the cause. The town receives its water from a lake on one of the hills up north, we have a purifier built next to it and then it travels through pipes to reach the town. On the other side of the hill is a swamp that is inhabited by the poison arrow frog. Though not poisonous on their own they secrete a fluid that is distilled into a common poison for arrows, hence the name. On their own the frog’s secretion isn’t poisonous, it will just make the person sick. I’m sure you know where this story is going. When the scouts returned from the lake they reported it was infested with the frogs. And to make matters worse the stupid frogs got themselves caught in the purifier, causing it to break.”

“Our main priority is fixing the purifier,” Sheila spoke up, keeping her eyes on the papers on the table. On closer inspection, the paper she was looking at was a blueprint, assumably for the purifier.

Hunk inched his way closer to Sheila asking, “What's the problem with the purifier?” as here peered over her shoulder at the blueprints. The older woman raised an eyebrow, her lip sneered as she eyes this ‘child’ who thinks he knows more than her.

Before she could make a snide remark Lance spoke up, “You should let Hunk help, he is a genius.”

“Aww thanks, buddy,” Hunk cooed.

Sheila didn’t seem to believe Lance but explained the problem anyway, “Well the first problem is finding a replacement grate, one small enough to keep the frog and any other creatures out.”

Hunk thought for a moment before asking, “Have you ever baked? The wiring on a metal sifter should be perfect. Not everything needs to be overly complicated.” Sheila raised an eyebrow but this time it was in curiosity. “You should put a few of them around the pipes, here, here, and here should be good. What’s the next problem?” As he spoke he pointed to different areas of the blueprint.

A great grin appeared on Sheila’s face. She stood, wrapping an arm around Hunk’s shoulder, saying, “Hunk was is? We have a lot to discuss. Let's take this conversation to a quieter area.” With her other arm, she swiped up the blueprints and led Hunk across the room to the small table near the unlit fireplace.

Shiro let out a small chuckle as Hunk was dragged away, “Looks like your primary problem is being resolved.”

There was a genuine look of relief on the Mayor’s face. “Yeah, I guess it is,” he said softly. “But our next problem is the frogs. In the fifty years since we set up at the lake, they never came over, so why now?”

“Have you sent anyone to investigate the swamp?” Shiro asked.

Shawn shook his head. “The path to the swamp can be dangerous due to the wild animals and I don’t feel comfortable sending anyone in their current state.”

Shiro grinned, pushing his chair back and standing. “I guess I know where we are headed.”

 

***

The lake wasn’t very far from the town so it didn’t take long to get there. Just as they were told, the lake was filled with hundreds of olive green frogs varying from the size of a grape to as big as a grapefruit hopping all over. Sheila immediately ushered Hunk to the purifier, the two workers she brought with them followed and they began working.

“If you take that path up and around you’ll reach the swamp,” Shawn said as he pointed to a path behind the lake.

Shiro nodded, “Alright, let's get going then.”

Lance silently snuck over to Hunk. “So….do you need any help?” he asked.

“I think that's what those guys are here for,” Hunk responded pointing to the two assistants.

Lance frowned and tried the question again in a different way, “Don’t you need someone to hand you your tools? Like you call out what you need and I’ll hand it to you.”

Hunk deadpanned at his friend, “Lance, you wouldn’t know the names to half these tools.”

“I would so!” Lance exclaimed as she started to panic, he grabbed the first thing he saw. Out of the handle was a metal rod, the end was bent at a forty-five-degree angle and tapered to a blunt point. “Like this is a…..ummm…”

“Angle hook,” Hunk finished, taking the item out of his hand and setting it back with the rest of the tools. “I get it Lance, but you’ll be more help with them.” Lance gave the best pout he could muster. “Stop that,” Hunk scolded while rolling his eyes. “It will be fine. If you need to just stay with Pidge.”

“But-”

“Lance,” Shiro called, making Lance jump. He headed towards them.“I wanted to apologize for the way I acted before,” Shiro said now standing next to Lance.

“You do?” Lance asked surprised.

“Keith means a lot to me and when I saw him hurt… I should have assessed the situation better before coming to conclusions. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“Oh,” Lance smiled, “Yeah, I get it, no big deal. Water under the bridge right?” he said nonchalantly.

“Alright, we’re ready to go when you’re ready.” With that Shiro turned and walked away from them. Once he was far enough away Lance dropped his smile and turned his gloomy eyes back to Hunk.

Hunk put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “He’s trying, Lance.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Be careful. And stick with Pidge.” Hunk wrapped his arms around Lance, pulling him into a hug.

“Will do,” Lance said as he pulled out of the hug. With a sigh, he slowly dragged his feet towards Shiro.

***

The trees and foliage became denser as they traveled to the swamp. When they first started on the path they heard animals moving around then and insects chattering to one another. The noises began to thin the more they walked until the only sound was their footsteps. Pidge found the silence eerie so she attempted to make conversation. Keith remain his silent self not responding to her comments, Shiro believed in professionalism while in a mission, so he wasn't much for talking either, and Lance was unnaturally quiet.

Pidge wasn't stupid, she knew he was still upset over what happened earlier and wouldn't push him to talk just because she felt uncomfortable in the silence. She did, however, channel Hunk by standing protectively between him and the other two. The next time she looked at him he was grinning at her, he must have noticed what she was doing, because he then ruffled her hair. Pidge let out a startled squeak before swatting his hands away. They both laughed but were quieted by Shiro's annoyed gaze.

Lance leaned into Pidge’s ear and whispered in a poor attempt to mimic Shiro's voice, “This was a mission and missions are to be taken seriously.” She quickly covered her mouth to prevent her laughter from escaping, it only partially worked. They both saw Shiro shake his head slightly but didn't turn back around.

The path eventually led them to a big swamp. “This is the place,” Shiro said but not too loud, as if he didn't want whatever was here to hear him. “Be careful and stay close. Don't go too far into the water, we have no idea how deep it is.”

The group separated to search the area, Lance didn't go too far from Pidge, Hunk's words echoed in his mind ‘Stick with Pidge’ he didn't mean that for just emotional support, he also knew she was a magnet for trouble.

“Hey, guys?” Pidge called as she stared out into the water. The three turned their attention to her. “What is that?” She tilted her head trying to figure out what she was looking at. It looked like a stick with three eyes was protruding from the water and being pushed towards her from the current. She stood looking at it as it slowly made its way closer.

“Pidge, get away from there!” Lance yelled as he ran towards her. His voice drew her attention away from the moving eye stick briefly, but when she returned to it the waters around it started to ripple as it rose out of the water. She remained paralyzed as she watching the enormous twenty-foot tall monstrosity reveal itself.

The three-eyed stalk rested on the top of its massive amphibian-like body, she recognized the dark shadows that covered its body. It probably was a normal frog once, now the only thing remotely frog-like was its thick legs because she didn't know any frog with two tentacles on either side of its body. She stared at it in awe, her mind finally triggering the warning lights. She saw it raise a massive tentacle, turning to flee but she took to long.

The next thing she knew she was falling to the ground as someone cried her name. She quickly turned her head to see Lance where she was just standing. Everything was happening in slow motion, she watched helplessly as the tentacle crashed into Lance's side, sending him sailing through the air until his body collided with a tree.

“LANCE!” Keith screamed, dashing to where the boy landed on the ground.

“Pidge get back!” Shiro yelled, rushing towards the girl and the beast. She didn't need to be told twice, picking herself up and running to Shiro.

When Keith got to Lance he was slowing picking himself up off the ground, grunting as he did so. Keith placed a hand to Lance's back frantically asking, “Are you hurt?” Any animosity from earlier was gone and replaced with concern.

Lance looked up Keith with a weak smile, “My ribs hurt like fuck,” he said clutching his side. “Does that count?”

Keith let out a sigh of relief, “Good thing you’re so thick-headed.”

Lance wiggled his eyebrows as he asked, “Is that what the ladies are saying?”

Keith snorted and rolled his eyes, not even trying to his how the edges of his lips curled upward. “Idiot,” he muttered, shaking his head only to receive a grin from the hurt boy.” Hurry up and heal yourself before you miss all the fun.” Knowing Lance was fine, Keith felt at ease leaving him alone to help the others. He summoned he sword and charged forward.

Pidge stood beside Shiro, dodging a swing of a tentacle and in return swinging her katar at it, leaving a nasty cut. Shiro was technically weaponless, which was fine considering his body was a weapon. His arms were above his head gripping another large tentacle he pivoted, releasing his grip and causing the monster to stumble forward, allowing Pidge another swing at it.

Keith headed into the fight, summoning a large flame in his palm. His arm spun in circles before releasing the flame, the fire spiraled through the air as it reached its target. It coiled around a tentacle-like a snake before erupting, unfortunately, it didn't seem too phased from the attack. Keith reached the monster moments later slashing at another tentacle, he sword cutting straight through and sending the tip flying into the air.

“Nice of you to join us,” Shiro snarked, readjusting his body for another incoming attack. “Is Lance okay?” As if on cue an arrow made contact with the monster's massive head, making it jerk back violently.

Keith scowled, knowing Lance either glossed over his injury with his magic or ignored it completely. He was going to guess the first one, this way Lance can say he did heal himself, just not nearly enough.

“Get back!” Shiro ordered, Keith's body reacting before he acknowledged the words. He saw Pidge scurrying away further than needed, she probably had an idea. Shiro's arm erupted in purple lightning, it danced up and down his arm before Shiro jabbed his arm out forcing the it forward. The lightning encompassed the monster before it disappeared, leaving the monster momentarily dazed. Keith took the opportunity to slash again, this time at its leg.

Once recovered the monster swung at Keith, it's movements sluggish allowing Keith to dodge with no problem. “The lightning seems to slow it down! Shiro do that again!” Keith yelled, readjusting his footing to charge once Shiro let out another blast, except he didn't. “Shiro?” Keith snuck a glance while still focusing on the monster.

Shiro was on his knees, head down and his hands were tightly gripping his arms. Keith screamed his name again but Shiro made no notion of heading it. The monster was all about forgotten as Keith ran to get to his side, watching Shiro's wide unfocused eyes and how his whole body trembled violently. The monster swung two tentacles one aimed for Shiro the other for Keith.

“KEITH LOOK OUT!” Lance's voice rang with panic as an arrow flew through the air, knocking the tentacle aimed for Shiro away. Keith stopped short only seeing the tentacle aimed for him too late. It wrapped itself around his waist lifting him into the air and constricted suddenly making Keith cry out in pain. His released his grip on his sword and could only watch helplessly as it tumbled to the ground below.

“LET HIM GO!” Lance screamed, firing another arrow at the tentacle gripping his friend. The grip only tightened, Keith let out a gasp as the air was forced from his lungs. The monster lifted Keith directly in front of his face before opening its cavernous mouth. Keith's eyes widened as he frantically struggled, his dagger unreachable, instead, Keith gripped the tentacle with both hands channeling as much fire into them as he could. The monster wasn't even phased by the fire or the second arrow.

“No, no, no, no,” Keith chanted as he was moved closer to being lunch. A huge tree branch whistled through the air, slamming into the monster's head. The force splinter the thick bark causing the branch to hang limp. The monster stumbled forward, losing its grip on Keith and its footing. Keith managed to wiggle his way out just as the monster crashed face first into the ground.

“Keith! Are you alright!” Pidge called to him, she was standing with her hand on a huge tree with a now broken branch.

Keith didn't have time to verbalize a response, instead, he ran to his sword grabbing it without stopping and ran up a tentacle to the top of the monster’s head. He feet were placed on either side of the bleeding gash left by the tree. Raising his sword into the air he thrust it down into the wound. The monster cried and tried to move but was too disoriented and tired. Keith pulled his sword free and repeated the motion, again and again until the beast stilled.

Keith lifted his sword one last time, dislodging it from the corpse. His tired body swayed to the side, it wasn't one of his finest moments when his feet slipped on the blood that poured from the wound. His arms windmilled to try to regain his balance, it didn't work. He felt himself falling off the creature, at least he was only a few feet off the ground so the fall wouldn’t be too bad.

To his surprise he didn't feel the hard ground, instead, he felt something solid and warm, he realized it was a person when arms help steady him. “Hey, did it hurt?”

Keith readjusted his body to look at the owner of the voice asking, “Did what hurt?”

“When you fell from monster?” Lance responded in his suave voice. There was a snort and groan from a few feet away, from Shiro and Pidge respectively, due to Lance's butchering of an already bad pick up line.

Keith narrowed his eyes, then shoved Lance breaking the hold. “Did it hurt?” Keith repeated annoyed. “When you got thrown into a tree and decided not to heal yourself, then hobbled over here!”

Lance raised his hands in defense. “Hey, I didn't have time to heal myself okay?!”

Keith scoffed turning away from Lance, he watched as Pidge help Shiro to his feet. “Shiro, are you okay?” Keith asked making his way to then with Lance slowly following.

“I'm sorry,” Shiro said, holding the side of his head.

“It's fine, tell us what happened,” Pidge replied.

“Do you need healing?” Lance voice his concern.

Keith swung his head around to glare at Lance. “Why don't you heal yourself!” he said, with that familiar hint of annoyance.

“I'll heal you!” Lance retorted.

“Seriously?!” Pidge yelled.

Shiro let out a chuckle. “Is this common for you two?” The others returned their attention to Shiro. “When I used my magic, I felt like I was back there. Forced to fight and…” Shiro trailed off as he started to lose himself in his memories.

“It's okay, Shiro,” Keith assured him, stopping him from falling too deep into his own mind.

Shiro looked up at Keith with a smile. “Thanks.” He turned to Pidge, “Good job with that tree.”

“Yeah! That was crazy Pidge!” Lance exclaimed. A light blush dusted Pidge’s face at the praise. “Good thing Hunk's not here, he'd make some bad tree pun. Something about branching out or being the root of the problem.”

The others stared at Lance as he rambled, “Yeah….” Keith said then looked back at Pidge. “Really great job, Pidge. You saved me.”

“All in a day's work,” she teased with a huge smile.

“I'm going to check the area. Make sure there is nothing else dangerous,” Shiro declared, getting up and heading into a seemingly random direction.

Keith knew Shiro was still shaken up about his incident and knowing Shiro, he blames himself for Keith almost getting eaten. “Pidge, can you go with Shiro?” Keith asked the girl. “Give him space but make sure he's okay.” She nodded, getting up and following after him.

Keith was left alone with Lance, the adrenaline from the battle dissipating and replaced with an awkward silence. “Um…do you need healing?” Lance asked. Seeing Lance act nervous is still something Keith isn't used too. Lance is normally loud, arrogant, and boisterous, not quiet, nervous and meek. What was he so nervous about? It's not like this was their first time alone. Did Keith do something-- ‘Shit,’ he thought, their fight earlier. That's when a wave of guilt crashed into him. Lance sounded so scared and desperate when Keith was in danger. Why would he go out of his way to hurt him during an exercise, unless it really was an accident?

“Keith? Hello?”

Keith snapped out of his throughs watching Lance wave his hand in front of Keith's face. “Good, you're back. I thought I lost you there.”

“I'm sorry,” Keith mumbled.

“No, biggie. I was just checking if you need healing.”

“What? No, not that. I mean…. For earlier.” Keith decided at that moment the grass near his feet was worth all his attention and not the now confused boy standing in front of him.

“Earlier?” Lance leaned his head on his hand, tapping his temple as he tried to figure out what Keith was talking about.

“I overreacted. I should have yelled at you like that.” Yup, this stationary grass was definitely interesting, the way there was no wind to disturb it.

There was no response. It felt like an hour of silence past before Lance said, “Wait… do you mean… Oh no! Keith, that was all my fault! You don't need to apologize!” Keith looked up to see Lance waving his hand frantically. Without thinking, Keith snapped his hand out grabbing Lance at the wrists to still his hands.

“Yes, I do need to apologize!” Keith nearly yelled. Lance was silent staring wide-eyed at him. “I shouldn't have yelled,” his voice was softer. “I should have known it wasn't intentional.”

The sun was streaming in through the trees at a weird angle, it made it look as if Lance was blushing. “Right,” Lance squeaked. He quickly cleared his throat before adding, “I'm sorry too--”

“No!” Keith squeezed Lance's wrists. “I mean, you already apologized. I was just too arrogant to accept it.”

“Do you now?”

“What?

“Do you accept my apology now?”

“Yeah…”

Keith couldn't help but gaze into Lance's deep blue eyes, there was just something so entrancing about them.

“Hey, buddy? Think I can get my hands back?” Lance asked with a weak smile.

“Oh yeah.” Keith paused. “But only if you heal yourself.”

“What is with you? I'm fine!”

Keith released one hand so he could jab Lance in his totally not injured side. “Ahhh!” Lance cried in pain, curling into that side and taking a step back. “Fine fine! I'll heal myself, fuck don’t do that again!”

Keith released Lance's other hand with a giant grin stretching ear to ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cause I'm a nerd, the monster they fought is a D&D monster called a Froghemoth, hence the title. And in D&D it has fire and lightning resistance, but lightning does slow it and lower stats.


	17. A Lemur with a Moustache

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Shiro decided it will be good practice for Keith and Lance to do an exercise together. Things don't go as planned when Lance accidentally hurts Keith. The group makes it to a town where they find out their water source has been tainted. Hunk stayed behind to help fix the broken puirfier while the rest of the team finds the source of the problem. A voidling corrupted a poor forggy, turning it into a Froghemoth. The four work together and slay the monster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day late but that's fine, who is counting? So slightly bad news, having a deadline was a good idea for myself since I have a tendency to procrastinate, but it was also screwing me over. In the little free time I have I would want to play games or write a different au I've been thinking of, but my mind would be all like, "NOPE! Can't do that, you have a deadline!" and then I wouldn't be in the mood to write and just sit on my bed watching youtube and twitch. So I decided I'm abandoning scheduled updates, I'm still going to continue writing, I have so much more planned, it will just come out at a slower pace and I'll have more time to go back and add things in and do a better editing job.
> 
> And if anyone is interested, that Charity promo I mentioned last chapter, yeah they hit the 3 million dollar mark. Makes me all happy inside.
> 
> Happy Holidays to everyone! And Happy New Year! I'll see ya in 2019!
> 
> Again no beta, she has had a long and hard week. 
> 
> Questions, comments, bad pick up lines, hit me on on Tumblr @[Nutternut](https://nutternut.tumblr.com/)
> 
> And a big thank you to my Beta and amazing friend @[eveningstargazer](https://eveningstargazer.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Enjoy!

It wasn't long before Shiro and Pidge returned to Keith and Lance. They found the two boys relocated a bit away from the slowly decaying corpse. Keith’s arms were crossed, he stared at Lance with an eyebrow raised and a slight grin. Leaning with an elbow on Keith's shoulder, Lance is telling a story, letting his other hand dance in the air with each detail he adds.

“That's when the dog lept out--” Lance cried.

Keith dropped the smirk looking perplexed. “What dog? You didn't mention one before,” he interrupted.

Lance's bright face dropped, jabbing a finger harshly into Keith’s chest. “There is a dog cause I say there is a dog there. It's my story and the addition of a dog makes the story funnier. Something you would have figured out if you, ” Lance then jabbed Keith after every syllable, “did not in-ter-rupt me.”

Keith rolled his eyes and pushed Lance's hand away from his chest. The sound of approaching steps caused them to look up at Pidge and Shiro with smiles.

“How did it go?” Keith was quick to ask, walking to meet the two with Lance beside him.

“Nothing,” Pidge huffed clearly annoyed.

“It's going to be dark soon,” Shiro stated, looking up at the setting sun. “We can talk on the way back to town.”

They began making their way back, Shiro explaining what he and Pidge saw or rather didn't see. “That monster was a shadow fiend,” Shiro said with absolute certainty. “Which means there is a rift nearby. We couldn't find it or any signs of corruption.”

“I couldn't find it either with my magic,” Pidge added from her stop next to Lance. She immediately migrated next to the boy as soon as they started the walk back. “Considering what the rift area looked like in the Kerberos forest, I thought it would be easy to find.”

Shiro shook his head. “Not all rifts look that way.”

Lance nudged the girl beside him asking, “Are you telling me you never read through your father's classified documents?” The raised eyebrow followed by a devilish grin was more than enough confirmation. Lance matched her grin then burst out laughing.

Acting as if he didn't just witness Pidge admitting to a criminal offense, Shiro continued, “That rift was different, the Druids tampered with it.” His voice drew colder at the mention of his captures. “It would normally take months before it got to that point, and from the sounds of it, this rift only formed a week or two ago. Pidge said Hunk has a device that can find Void activity. We'll come back in the morning and try again.”

The sun was setting quickly, Keith took the lead conjuring his fire for more light. Shiro continued pace beside him, subconsciously gripping his shadowed covered arm. “Hey,” Keith spoke softly, transferring the fire to his other hand so he could squeeze Shiro's shoulder. “We'll work through this.”

Shiro responded with a slight smile. “Glad you're okay,” he muttered.

Keith instantly picked up on the guilt lacing his words. “Don't,” he warned. “It wasn't your fault. I'm fine, Pidge is fine, and Lance is fine.” He kept his voice low so the two trailing behind didn't hear. “You've always been there for me and I'm going to be there for you.”

This time Shiro's smile was large and genuine, “Thank you, Keith.”

“What do you think they're talking about?” Lance asked, narrowing his eyes at the duo ahead of him. His arms rested on the back of his head as he walked, with his bow glowing lightly in one hand, illuminating their path. The curious boy increased his pace to get closer.

“Something private,” Pidge said, grabbing the back of his jacket and yanking him backward. “Now leave them alone.”

With a yelp, Lance stumbled backward but quickly regained his footing. “How are you so deceptively strong?”

“I'm not strong, you're just a scrawny beanpole.”

Lance feigned an offended gasp. “You take that back! I'm not a bean pole! I'm more like a fine-apple.” He elongated the last word and swayed his hips.

As cringe-worthy as that line was, Pidge couldn't contain herself as she barked out a good laugh causing Lance to grin. They ignored the weird looks Shiro and Keith gave them over their shoulders. “That was so bad,” Pidge wined once she finished laughing. “How do you come up with this stuff?”

“Why? You got a special someone you need help with?”

“Yeah, I need advice on things not to say.”

They both chuckled at their familiar routine. “Hey, Lance?”

“Hmm?”

She stopped her walk, glancing up at him from the corner of her eye. She softly spoke, “Thanks for pushing me out of the way of that monster.” She redirected her gaze to her feet and the dirt path. It was her fault he got hurt. Even after her training with Shiro and Keith she just stood there as the monster revealed itself.

Something in her face must have given her thoughts away. Lance responded nonchalantly, “That's my job. Gotta protect my team. I've saved Keith's ass more times than I can count and he's had more than three days worth of training.”

Her head snapped up at his words, only to be greeted with a knowing smirk. Now that he had her full attention he continued, “You've improved a lot in such a short time, but don't compare yourself to us. We’ve had years of all-day training and first-hand experience. You're only allowed to beat yourself up when you've had all that and still can't protect your friends.” He ended with a hollow chuckle.

Just how Lance saw through Pidge, she saw right through his words. “Hey!” she raised her voice, grabbing his arm and spinning him so he faced her. “Don't even start! We're all safe and alive and that's thanks to you!” Not wanting the others to hear and get involved, she lowered her voice, but her ferocity remained. “How exactly have you not been protecting your friends? Because I can think of at least ten examples of you doing just that in the past week.”

Lance was taken aback by her outburst. A small not quite smile crept up his mouth, he raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, calm down. I was just joking.” Something about his tone of voice made it hard for Pidge to believe him. She stared intently at him, but believing his words but still letting go of his arms.

“Matt and I were really close. Losing him has been really hard, but you've almost made me forget that hurt.”

The only warning Pidge received was a sincere smile before Lance reached around pulling her into a hug. “Your grammar is wrong. It's ‘Matt and I ARE really close’. We're going to find him. I promise.”

Pidge returned the hug, burying her face into his chest. “Don't beat yourself up, you're important to me too,” her words were muffled, but Lance still heard them squeezing harder.

“Thanks, Pidge.” They broke apart, both smiling at the other. “Come up, let's get going before we get left behind.” They continued up the path to where Shiro and Keith were waiting for them.

 

It wasn't much longer until they reached the still frog infested lake. The purifier purred and slightly vibrated from where it sat on the other side, from the looks of it Hunk was able to get it up and running. Standing next to it was a silhouette of a person holding a lantern. Upon hearing the group the person turned to greet them, the light now illuminating her face.

“Oh, there you are!” Moria cried with relief. “How did it go? Did you figure out what happened?” Not waiting for them to come to her, she hurried to their side.

“We found the cause and took care of it,” Shiro said, making Moria smile brightly. “For now,” He added, her smile now gone.

“I see. Come back to our house and rest. You can tell father all about it.” She began to lead them been into the town before adding, “And I think some showers are in order.”

When they arrived back at the Mayor's house they were greeted by Shawn, Sheila and Hunk, who as overjoyed as he was too see them, refused to give them hugs until they showered and changed.

Shawn assured them the shower water was from the reservoir of purified water and not to worry, but if they could limit their shower time to just a few minutes each. All eyes landed on Lance who was appalled they would single him out like that.

One by one they showered and changed into a spare set of clean clothes from their packs they left at the house. Sheila offered some clothes to Shiro saying they belonged to her son in law and it's the least that ingrate can do. Shiro simply thanked her, not feeling the need to ask further questions. The new shirt was a dark almost black, navy blue, making the shadows hidden underneath even harder to see.

Keith was the last one to shower, he entered the study with still damp hair. Pidge, Hunk, and Sheila were huddled over the same table from earlier. Spread across it were assorted machine parts and what sort of resembles Hunk's void detector.

Standing next to the unlit fireplace was Shiro and Shawn. Shawn kept nodding as Shiro explained something. They were probably talking about what they found in the swamp.

Surprisingly the only group Keith didn't feel like he was intruding was tucked into a small corner of the room, sitting in plush chairs. As he approached the two he saw Lance was wearing his ridiculous green face mask and apparently convinced Moria to join him. She was leaning forward in her chair with wide eyes listening eagerly to what Lance was saying. Before Keith could hear what they were talking about they stopped their conversation to acknowledge him.

“Keith!” Lance happily cried with a big smile.

The last forty-eight hours have been quite a straight on their relationship and Keith knows he should keep his mouth shut, but does he listen to himself? “You still got a little swamp on your face,” Keith said with a smirk pointing to Lance's face.

Lance wasn't amused, he narrowed his eyes at the boy. “Har har. Very funny. Or at least it would be if I couldn't see those oily dirty pores from here!”

Surprisingly Keith looked offended. He slowly raised a hand to his cheek mumbling, “I’m not dirty I just took a shower.”

Lance burst out laughing at the confused boy, while Moria was a bit more subtle with her giggle as to not offend him. “Please, why don’t you join us,” she offered, extending a hand to the empty third chair.

Keith eyed the chair suspiciously, was that chair part of the set or did they pull it over specifically for him? Before he could think too much on the topic Lance agreed, “Yeah Mullet, come join us. I just finished telling Moria about our encounter with that Void-frog before.”

Keith rolled his eye at Lance at the sound of the nickname, but still took a seat and listened. Considering Lance admitted earlier he tends to add to storied to make them more interesting, he wonders what fabrications were added to this one.

As soon as he settled himself Lance began a different story, it was about two month after they became partners and needed to investigate claims of a rift to the east of the Garrison. Keith listened quietly as Lance recounted their many “adventures” as he put it, together. Something each story had in common was Lance over exaggerating Keith’s contribution and playing down his own. A few times Keith interrupted to correct Lance on his underselling of himself and insisting he did more than he let on. And each time Lance would reprimand him for interrupting.

“Maybe if you told the story correctly I wouldn’t have to interrupt.”

Lance ignored Keith and continued to tell the stories his way, causing Keith to continue interrupting. It was amusing to see Keith irritated at the incorrect details, so Lance decided to turn it into a game. He would purposely retell the stories with misinformation to see what Keith remembered. To Lance’s surprise, Keith remembered each mission in extraordinary detail, which make it even more of a challenge to stump him. The two continued so engrossed in their new competition they didn’t even notice when Moria excused herself and left the room. Only when Shiro told them that dinner is ready did they realize they were the only three people left in the study.

With the combined culinary powers of Hunk and Moria, it was one of the best meals everyone has eaten in a long while. Mainly because it wasn’t a wild animal cooked over a campfire with whatever herbs or plants they could find. They were again assured the water was from their purified reservoir. After dinner, Shawn and Sheila offered their spare bedrooms to the group. Pidge and Hunk said their goodnights as they left with the older woman, still talking about more ways to improve the town’s water system. Talk that went completely over Keith’s head and making Lance laugh at his adorable cluelessness.

Everyone met back up at the Mayor’s house for breakfast the next morning to discuss the plan for the day. Pidge explained how she and Hunk made adjustments to the void detector allowing them to find the rift without any external interference, causing Hunk to not so subtly looked at Shiro. Then there was still the task of collecting the frog from the lake and returning them back to their swamp once it’s clear. Hunk immediately volunteered him and Lance for that job. As Lance went to protest Pidge cut him off agreeing with Hunk and glaring at Lance to listen to them.

After breakfast they all made their way to the lake, Shiro, Keith, and Pidge continued further down the path that leads to the swamp. Once alone Lance turned to his friend with a suspicious gaze asking, “Okay what is this about?”

“Nothing,” Hunk said innocently, handing Lance a deep bucket with lid, a net, and gloves. “I just haven’t had time to catch up with my best buddy in a while.”

Lance eyed his friend suspiciously but took the tools anyway. “Not much to catch up on since we’ve been together for the past week or so now,” Hunk responded with a simple shrug and started catching frogs silently.

It wasn’t long until a group of villagers joined them in cleaning up the waters. The net method wasn’t working well for Lance so he decided on a different tactic. He conjured a ball of water around two small frogs, lifting them out of the water and over the bucket, but before he could release them they just swam out of it and fell back to the lake. With a groan, Lance hung his head in defeat.

Hunk made his way next to Lance giving him a comfortable pat on the back. “So, you wanna tell me what happened yesterday during your exercise with Keith?” Hunk asked as if he were inquiring about the weather, then returned to collecting frogs.

Lance responded with a sigh. “So that's what you and Pidge were plotting. I should have known it wasn’t anything good.”

After a minute of silence, Hunk tried again, “Sooooo…”

“Arg! What's there to talk about? I fucked up as usual because I'm a useless stupid idiot that can't do anything right!” Lance shouted, throwing his net down into the water in anger then crossing his arms.

Hunk ignored his temper tantrum, calmly collecting a frog that jumped right into his net to escape Lance’s wrath. “Nope, no self-depreciation. Talk to me, Lance.”

“Do I have too? Keith and I already made up,” Lance whined.

Hunk finished depositing the frog into his bucket then placed his net down and gave Lance a stern look.

“It's stupid,” Lance mumbled.

“I’m used to you saying stupid things.”

“I just… want him to notice me.”

Hunk finally turned his attention away from the frogs to face Lance. “I don’t follow you, buddy. You two are partners, how can he not notice you?”

“Look I told you it was stupid!” Lance snapped, turning away from Hunk.

“Lance. It’s not stupid. Come on, help me understand.” Hunk’s voice was soft and understanding.

Lance bit his lower lip, staring at frogs jump around as he collected his thought and found the right wording. “I know I wasn’t supposed to hurt him, but watching him shrug off my attacks like they were nothing...” He paused. “I felt like he was saying my attacks are nothing, that I am nothing. Like I’m not even strong enough for him to acknowledge me as a worthy opponent. I got too lost in my own damn head and forgot I needed to power down my attacks.”

“You’re right Lance. That was really stupid.”

“HEY!” Lance yelped finally turning to Hunk.

As soon as he turned Hunk grabbed his shoulder and started him straight in the eyes. “You are strong. I know it, Shiro knows it, Keith knows it. You’re the only one who doesn't think that.”

“Yeah, but--”

“No buts!” Hunk tightened his grip. “What did you rank at the Garrison?”

“Hunk,” Lance whined again.

“What did you rank, Lance?”

With a defeated sigh Lance answered, “I was the top-ranked Guardian in my year.”

“You’re not weak, Lance,” Hunk reminded him letting his hand fall down to his arms, rubbing them reassuringly.

The kind act allowed a small smile to form on Lance’s face. “Then why does it feel like I am?” he asked, leaning forward allowing Hunk to hold him in a hug.

Hunk held his friend tightly, whispering into his hair, “That's just something we are going to work on buddy.”

 

***

 

It took longer than expected, but all the frogs were safely removed from the lake. It was now mostly empty, no frogs and most of the villagers that helped had returned home. Hunk and Lance were among the few that were left. Not long after Shiro and the others returned from their mission. When they approached their friends Keith was the first to speak. “Why are you soaking wet?”

Lance laid on the grass, his limbs spread out in all directions, damp cloths hugging his body, water dripping from his hair down his cheek. Hunk sat beside him, dry as a desert. “He fell into the water after a frog scared him,” Hunk answered for his friend.

“Traitor,” Lance mumbled, looking too exhausted to fight back.

“Then he knocked over a bucket causing it to hit another bucket and letting all the frogs loose,” Hunk cheerfully finished the story.

Pidge burst out laughing, Shiro tried to remind composed to not make Lance feel worse, but a small smirk still weaseled its way onto his face. Keith simply rolled his eyes, reaching down and offered a hand to the soaking boy. “Come on, let's get you dried off,” he grinned.

Lance ducked his head to hide a small smile while raising a limp arm. “For the record, I wasn't scared,” he started to explain as Keith yanked him to his feet. “It jumped out at me, startling me, not scaring. Big difference!”

“Clearly,” Keith responded, eyeing Lance up to assist how damp he was. His eyes lingering too long on the damp shirt that clung to his chest. It didn't help at all the way Lance raised his arms over his head, lifting his shirt and revealing a sliver of tan skin.

“Come on Mullet, maybe your dry sense of humor can help dry me off,” Lance snarked, so impressed with his comment he didn't notice how wide Keith's eyes were, or how his mouth was slightly open.

“What? Yeah, sure,” Keith fumbled his word while trying desperately to compose himself.

Lance dropped his arms back to his side. With a raise of an eyebrow he asked, “Are you ok-ahhh,” Lance yelped as Keith grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the town. He needed to get out of this situation before he did something stupid, or more realistically, Lance did something stupid.

Keith could feel Pidge and Hunk's confused gazes on the back of his head, but nothing compared to the smug look Shiro was probably giving him. ‘That bastard is probably laughing his ass off,’ Keith thought to himself. ‘Since when am I not allowed to look at cute boys. Not that Lance is cute. He just has an attractive body. Fuck! Stop that!’ Keith continued his mental panic, unaware of how Lance was talking to him, or how he still gripped Lance's wrist, and he especially didn't see the looks the villages gave them.

‘This is normal, you’re just acting like a teenage boy. You've never spent this much time with him so you've never had a chance to see his body this much. No! Spirits, I sound like a pervert.’ His crisis suddenly came to a crashing halt when a wave of water hit into his face.

Unsure of what just happened, Keith stilled and slowly began looking around. Lance stood next to him staring with a mixture of concern and confusion. In his left hand floated a globe of sloshing water. “You with me?” Lance asked cautiously.

“Did you just splash water at me?” Keith tried to sound angry but ended up sounding more puzzled.

Feeling a bit guilty Lance ducked his head a little as he tried to explain, “You were acting weird! You didn't listen to a word I was saying. And we've been outside Moria's place for like five minutes now and you still…” Lance raised his wrist with Keith's hand still attached, immediately turning his very noticeable flushed face away from Keith.

“S-sorry!” Keith yelped, dropping the grip and pulling his hand to his chest as if he was just burned.

“S'okay. Umm... Sorry for the water. Let me get you a towel.” Before Keith could respond Lance was hurrying into the house. Keith stood outside, alone, water dripping down his bangs. The only thing his brain was capable of doing was raising his hands to bury his face in as he let out a groan. ‘Why were things so much simpler before we found Shiro?’

When Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk arrived back at the Mayor's house they found the two garrison cadets sitting as far apart as they could without drawing too much suspicion. There was an awkward silence between them, each staring at something in opposite directions of the other.

Shiro's loud voice traveled through the room, “Everyone ready to get going?” He clapped his hands together, grinning while looking at the boys.

“Did you find anything out about the flower or those people?” Keith asked.

Shiro shook his head, but Pidge was the one to answer. “No, the juniberry flower doesn't bloom around here. And Shawn said no villagers have reported seeing anyone with that description.” She turned her attention to Lance, with a smile she continued, “We might not have gotten a lead, but I'm glad we came here and helped these people. It's all thanks to you and Blue.”

Normally Lance would bask in the praise, but instead, he frowned, gripping his armlet where Blue resides through his jacket. “I don't think Blue meant for us to come here,” Lance said solemnly. “She's been really anstey since she introduced herself.”

“Did we make her nervous?” Hunk asked from his spot next to Pidge.

Lance shook his head. “No, it's weird it's like a nervous excitement?” He reached a hand to scratch the neck of his neck. “Not sure how to explain it. But she likes you all so it's not that. I dunno, let's just keep going I guess.”

A simple nod was all it took for Shiro to regain everyone's attention. “There is a small settlement three days travel to the west of here. Shawn and Moria were kind enough to give us enough rations to last until we got there, and then some. Let's grab our things, say goodbye, and head out.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

Outside the group said their goodbyes. Pidge and Hunk were giving Sheila last minute ideas for improving more things around the town. Lance had Moria's hand in his, slowly bending down and leaving a light kiss on it. That act definitely didn't make Keith roll his eyes from where he stood next to Shiro and Shawn.

“Grandma!” a voice called. Everyone watching a young man who looked a bit older than Keith run towards Sheila. He stopped right in front of her breathing heavily as if he spent the whole morning running. The older woman narrowed her eyes at him, allowing him to catch his breath. “Grandma! Mom and Dad won't believe me but you have too!”

Sheila let out a frustrated sigh. “What is it this time?” Her tone of voice made it seem like this wasn't the first time he spoke those words.

“When I was out looking for a new source of water for the town when I saw these weird animals!”

Shiro and the others looked at each other. Could he have seen more void beasts? “What was so weird about them?” Shiro asked, slowing approaching the boy.

The grandson turned to Shiro with wide eyes exclaiming, “I saw a fox with a bunch of tails! And a big yellow spotted cat with these long whiskers! They were almost the full length of its body!”

Shiro didn't know how to respond, if this boy was younger he could assume it was an overactive imagination, but he wasn't. The person making this wild claim was only a few years younger than himself. Shiro could see out of the corner of his eye Sheila shaking her head in disappointment. Feeling bad for the child Shiro put on his best smile and decided to humor him. “Where did you see these animals?”

The boy looked astonished Shiro was actually interested. “To the northwest! They were prowling near the forest!”

The northwest, the same direction they were meant to be traveling.

“There is no forest to the northwest!” Sheila yelled obviously annoyed. “You're just as bad as your parents you know!”

“There is now! And the ground is different too!”

“ENOUGH! I'm taking you home and we're going to have a long talk with those parents of yours!” Without another word, Sheila was dragging her grandson away by the arm.

“Wait!” Pidge yelled, wanting to get more information but they were gone.

“I'm sorry about that,” Shawn apologized. “I try not to get involved in other family's problems.”

“Does he normally come up with wild tales?” Shiro asked.

Shawn thought over the question before answering. “He has been known to stretch the truth quite a bit. But Sheila is right, there are no forests in that direction. And before you ask, yes foxes are common, leopards are not.”

Pidge needlessly adjusted her glasses as she does when she has one of her ideas. “I know where we are headed.”

It is very unlikely these strange animals would have any knowledge of the druids or the whereabouts of the missing Holts, but they could be animals that were experimented on by the druids. It was important to check them out in the off chance they are a danger to the nearby villages.

By the time night fell everyone was exhausted. Pidge made a habit of using her magic to check the ground for any abnormalities every hour. By the fifth hour of sensing nothing but normal dirt, she gave up. The weather shifted suddenly and just as Shiro declared they would camp for the night it started to downpour. Everyone worked together to get the tents set up before it got any worse. Pidge declared Lance was banned from her tent since last time he and Hunk ganged up on her with their hugs. So Lance had to squeeze in with Shiro and Keith. Keith placed himself flush against the wall of the tent, making Shiro be the buffer between him and Lance, so he didn’t do anything stupid.

The rain continued through the night and into the morning. By the time everyone was awake the rain had stopped momentarily. For the next few hours, they traveled in a light drizzle that would let up for a minute only to continue for another ten.

By early afternoon they finally were able to see the sun again. That's when they noticed the strange colored grass. It looked as if a great line was drawn between where the grass they stood on ended and the strange darker grass began. The dividing line continued as far as the eye could see in either direction, curving slightly to assume it was a great circle. The group approached the divide easily able to cross over to the darker colored glass with no problem. 

“Do we need to ask Pidge, or are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Lance asked.

“I’m not sure,” she responded, kneeling down and placing her hand to the grass. Her eyes widen in surprise as she started mumbling. “No, that doesn’t. How can?”

“What is it, Pidge?” Shiro spoke, taking a step closer to her.

She lifted her hand and her head. “This doesn’t make sense.” She said. “I don’t understand it but, this grass here,” she pointed to the darker grass, “is younger than our grass.”

Lance raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What does that mean exactly?” he asked.

“It means what I said. This grass hasn't existed as long as normal grass! You see all soil is made up of certain elements that decay after a certain amount of time.”

“BORING!”

“DAMN IT LANCE!” Pidge yelled getting more frustrated.

“How old is each side?” Keith spoke up trying to get this topic back on track.

“I think…” Pidge touched each side of the grass with either hand. “This darker grass, I think it’s at least ten thousand years younger.”

“How is that possible?” Hunk asked.

“I don’t know. Should we continue?”

Shiro nodded then looked to Lance. “Is this what Blue wanted us to find?” Lance simple shrugged.

They crossed over to the younger ground, keeping their eyes out as they proceeded. Not much further they could see a tree line, probably the forest the grandson was referring too. But what caught their attention was a small furry animal with a long tail that sat on a rock just outside it eating some sort of fruit.

“What is that?” Hunk asked.

Pidge sprinted forward to get closer to the animal. She stopped as it heard her approach and turned to face her and the others. It’s back, arms and legs were covered in a light orange fur, the tail had black stripes going across it. It rose up on its hind legs it revealing the soft white fur on its chest, but the strangest thing about it was...

“Is that a Lemur?” Lance asked squinting at it. “And does it have a moustache?”

The lemur in question did, in fact, have what looked to be a big bushy orange moustache across its mainly white furred face.

Pidge inched closer reaching out her hand. “It’s okay little guy. We’re not going to hurt you.” She took another step closer when it jumped off its rock landing on her arm and scurried up on top of her head. “Hey, he likes me!”

No sooner did she utter those words did it grab her glasses off her face. It lept off her head and ran straight into the forest with them.

“HEY!!” Pidge screamed immediately running after it.

“Pidge wait!” Shiro yelled chasing after her.

“Those are my brother’s glasses! Give them back you furry rat!!”

The lemur was jumping from tree branch to tree branch letting out yells, it paused momentarily to check if Pidge was still following before continuing its escape and cries. She ignored the yells of her companions from behind her, her heart was beating frantically, she needed to get those glasses back, that was all that was left of her brother. She burst from the treeline to a small grove of flowers looking all over for the small thief she planned to strangle. Her delay allowed the others to finally catch up.

“Pidge!” Shiro cried.

“WHERE IS HE!” Pidge yelled running to the center.

“Guys…..” Hunk’s voice wavered. “Look at what we’re standing on.”

Pidge begrudgingly turned eyes attention away from looking for the beady-eyed rat to see what Hunk was talking about. Underneath her shoes were a three-petaled purple flower. She heard the gasps behind her as her mind caught up. She was standing on a juniberry flower, the whole grove was filled with them. The sound of the lemur’s cry brought her back to the task at hand. That stupid animal stood ten yards away with her brother’s glasses in its hands. Pidge’s body jerked forward, but she was jerked back by a hand on her shoulder. Shiro was gripping her tightly, his eyes were locked on something. She looked back to the small animal, then she saw something moving. Emerging from the trees was a creature she only ever read about, she was told it was a myth, a made-up creature like dragons and phoenixes. A great eight-foot bear stood on its back legs, it’s arms covered in feathers with sharp talons. No, it wasn’t a bear. Its face was that of an owl, she was looking at an owlbear.

“Behind us!” Keith yelled.

Pidge and Shiro turned, out of the trees more animals were emerging. She saw a fox swaying it’s nine tails, a leopard with lizard-like legs and whiskers traveling the length of its body. They were surrounded. Keith and Lance motioned to summon their weapons but were stilled by the screech of the owlbear. The huge creature began glowing a bright white, it’s body shrinking and reforming into that of a person.

Standing where this owlbear once stood was a magenta-haired woman. Her tan skinned ears came to sharp points and under her aqua colored eyes lay blue crescent marking.

“I am General Hira of the Altean royal guard! State your business here!”


End file.
